Baten Kaitos: Lingering Time
by Iname As One
Summary: Spoilers and then some. You were warned. One decision in the past is affecting all of time, and it all revolves around Kalas. Now he is the only one who can stop the new threat, but he's gonna need some help from his friends, and from himself.
1. Something's Wrong

Yay, my first real fanfic based off of one of the best games I have ever played! I hope you like it. I warn you though, it contains massive spoilers, and so if you haven't finished the game, you should before starting this. And if you have never played the game… Well why not? You need to go out and get yourself a copy of Baten Kaitos today. Don't have a Gamecube? Get one of those too. The game is worth every penny and hour that you put into it.

_Life Aspect: You have to do a disclaimer too, you know. _

But they all know all of that stuff that already…

_Life Aspect: we still have to tell them that we don't own Baten Kaitos or Namco._

**Death Aspect: Well, not yet, anyway… heh heh he…**

Anyway… on to the story! Enjoy!

* * *

_In this world, there are things that people mustn't touch…_

Kalas flinched as Xhella again screamed his name. He had always known they would come, but part of him had hoped that they would see. He could never give up his beautiful white wings…

_The past. _

But there was something he had not foreseen. An ethereal voice pierced the taint of Malpercio's power. Haru, the spirit that had joined him so long ago. The friend who Kalas had betrayed the trust of by wiping his memory. The companion whose spells had saved Kalas's life numerous times over the past few weeks. Kalas had cast the spirit out in the lava caves just days before, and had expected it to return to wherever it came from, but instead here it was. Haru's voice combined with Xhella's, until they were like one, each calling to Kalas, both full of concern.

_The present._

Something stirred inside Kalas, something that had not awakened since before the lava caves. The black glow in his eyes began to fade. He thought of his friends, who had braved all odds to come here, and had fought him out of caring rather than malice. He thought of his spirit, who had believed in him enough to return even after he had told it to leave. He thought of Xhella, who had trusted him completely from the beginning, even when he had given her every reason not to. Xhella and Haru and everyone had come here to save the world, but also to save him, and he had greeted them with swords raised.

_The future._

Kalas reached up and grabbed the base of his left wing. That beautiful, glowing, white wing that he had worked so long and hard to get. The manifestation of all of his dreams, all of his goals, all of his life. He moved to separate himself from all of this for the sake of his friends, and for the sake of the world. With a scream, he began to rip Malpercio's power from him, but then he stopped. For a long, breathless moment, he hesitated.

_All of this was meant to remain unchanged forever._

After all, why should he give up everything that he had given so much for? If they were truly his friends, surely they must understand. He couldn't just reject the gifts of the great Malpercio after all. No, these 'friends' just wanted him to be weak. Unhappy. They were clearly not really his friends. Not even that spirit. Not even Xhella. Melodia was the only one who had ever really cared about him.

_The balance of all that is must never be disturbed._

Kalas looked up, darkness once again swimming in his eyes. He slowly lowered his hand from his wing to his Magnus pouch. Absently drawing a handful of cards, he looked around the room at his former comrades in arms. Lyude had lowered his sonic gun and was standing there looking rather confused, as usual. Gibari's face wore a mixture of anger and pity, but his weapon was lowered as well. Savyna crouched next to Gibari, not threatening, but Kalas could still see that she had her hand on her deck. The Great Mizuti floated somewhere near the rear of the group, but Kalas couldn't read any emotion through the thick wooden mask. Xhella kneeled, crying, over the shards of the shattered Ocean Mirror. Of all of them, her face showed the rawest emotion. Tear marks along her cheeks marred her normally beautiful features. She screamed to Kalas again and again, calling his name, begging him to come back to them. Within her, Kalas could also sense his guardian spirit. Though it had no real features, he could still see its aura, and feel its concern for him. The spirit also called to him in its haunting mental voice.

_Who cares?_

Kalas looked down at the battle Magnus he now held. A grin spread across his face as he raised his head to meet eyes with Xhella. Their gazes locked, and for the briefest second, Kalas felt sorrow for what he was about to do. Then the second was over, and he was charging across the battlefield at her, his blade glowing with the energy of his Magnus and the power of Malpercio. Gibari shouted a warning, and Savyna moved to block, but they were both too slow. Xhella's scream and Melodia's laughter consumed the night.

* * *

_The Present, three years after the defeat of Malpercio and thefall of Cor Hydre._

Kalas awoke with a start, and was immediately blinded by the light streaming in through his window. Judging by the amount and intensity of said light, it was well past ten. He looked next to him, but as he had expected, Xhella was already up and elsewhere. She must have been in a good mood if she had let him sleep this late. Maybe she should have woken him earlier, because it might have saved him from the dream that he had just experienced. "That wasn't how it happened…" he muttered to himself. "Not at all." Kalas particularly hated remembering that time of his life. He had betrayed his friends and his values for a stupid wing. "But I came back." He told himself. His hand wandered over his left shoulder to the scar that had been left when he ripped Malpercio's gifts from himself. "I came back…"

He had experienced frequent nightmares after his encounter with evil, but since Malpercio's defeat, they had come less and less. Still, his occasional memories of how he had fought against Xhella and the others had never bothered him this much before. Realizing that he was drenched in a cold sweat, Kalas threw off the covers and moved to take a shower. After a quick washing, he returned to his room and began to dress. For some reason, he wanted to be fully geared up today, instead of just wearing his normal casual clothing. He pulled on the gloves and partial cape that he had kept since the defeat of the evil god. Then he reached for his winglet. His fingers fell on it, but he pulled back in surprise.

It was cold.

Ordinarily, the metal wing might be a bit cool in the mornings, but the winglet had been lying in a large patch of sunlight all morning. Furthermore, the complex inner workings designed by his grandfather usually started up in response to Kalas's touch, as a result warming the metal slightly. This morning, however, the winglet radiated cold, and Kalas couldn't help but shiver. Slowly, the machinery came to life and began to warm slightly, and Kalas was able to strap it to his back without recoiling, but it was still cool against his back flesh. The part that ran along his scar was particularly uncomfortable, and Kalas had to shift several times before he could wear it without trouble. He finally got it right and turned to reach for his swords. "Maybe I'll go looking for Gibari today," he said to himself as he stood up. "He's always up for a little sparring match." Kalas grabbed for his blades, but for the second time that morning he paused. His favorite weapon had a thin coating of rust along its entire length, and Kalas could tell just by looking at it that the edge was rather dull. "But…" Kalas stuttered, genuinely confused. "I polished this last night, and sharpened it just the other day. What the hell is going on around here?"

Kalas sat on the edge of the bed. His hand absently reached for the well worn deck of battle Magnus that were on his bedside table. As he tried to put his finger on the bad feeling the day had, he shuffled the deck. Kalas had a habit of playing out battles in his mind when he was upset, and it usually calmed him down. He drew a few cards and sat there looking at them. "Hmm… not bad…" he muttered as he dropped some to the side. "Attack, attack, increase my strength, take a picture…that always irritates Gibari." Kalas smiled. "And I still have plenty of phoenix helms left to stop that wave paddle of his… Excellent…" Kalas shuffled the deck again, drawing new cards. "Ugh, not nearly as good… only one attack… too many sacred wines, not enough shields… no finishers…" He drew the next few cards. "Wow, this battle would have been terrible… Nothing useful at all… I would need a guardian angel to win…"

Kalas drew another card, and froze. He stared at the Magus in shock. There was no possible explanation, no way for this card to be in his deck. All the bad signs of the morning came crashing down upon his mind, and for the first time he regarded them as more than unhappy coincidence. Something was definitely very wrong with this whole scenario, but he was not sure what, or why.

Xhella stuck her head in through the door. "Good morning, sleepyhead." She said cheerfully. "I thought I heard you moving around in here. You weren't sleeping well last night, so I figured you could use the extra rest." She looked over at his face, and her cheerful expression was replaced by one of worry. "What's wrong?" she asked. Kalas looked at her but didn't answer. He merely stood and held up the Magnus that he has been staring at. She stepped into the room for a better look. "What's that…?" her question was cut short by her own gasp of surprise.

It was a Magnus that they both knew very well. Each of them had used it at some point, and it and its companion cards had gotten them out of many tough situations. During any given battle, either would have been overjoyed to see it again. Here, however, in the age of peace that had existed for the three years since the end of Cor Hydre, It could not be a good sign. "But this can't be…" Xhella finally managed.

"I know, but it is…" Kalas responded in the same tone of voice.

"But… What does it mean? We haven't seen or heard from him in three years. Why is it here, why now?" She asked. Kalas just shook his head, still staring with blank surprise at the Magus. After another silent moment, Xhella finally said, "We need to tell the others. Whatever this means, it is big. Too big for us to handle on our own. I'll talk to Mizuti. Maybe she can help figure this out. Then we can get the others…"

"Yeah, let's go," Kalas said. He grabbed the rest of his deck and shoved it into the pouch on his belt. He handed Xhella's cards to her. While still unsure of what was going on, Kalas had the feeling that they would need them. Xhella took her staff from where it hung on the wall. "We ready?" Kalas asked, and Xhella nodded. They both looked down at the familiar Magnus one more time. It had a very detailed picture of a swirling sphere of greenchronos energy. The card had only four words on it that looked as if they had been handwritten in an emrald ink across the top:

**Spirit Magic: Lingering Time**

* * *

_Life Aspect: Now see here! We are not going to try to take over Namco!_

**Death Aspect: But why not. It makes perfect sense.**

_Life Aspect: How does it make any sense?_

**Death Aspect: If we owned Namco, then we wouldn't need any disclaimers AND we could force them to make a sequel. It's all perfect.**

(Knock it off in there!) Ahem… Sorry about that. Anyway, I hope you liked the first chapter, and I promise to make the rest less… cryptic. I like a good story to start right in the thick of things, so I can't offer too much back-story, but in the game, Kalas did rip off the wing that the evil god's power had given him, and then he came back to the good guys' team. That's why he was so disturbed by the dream of him staying with the darkness.

Now is when I beg for reviews. Positive, negative, flames, whatever, just tell me what you thought.

**Death Aspect: Flames will be used to light the hay at your feet. You were warned.**

_Life Aspect: No they won't. Stop it! You are going to scare away all the readers…_

Don't worry readers. We can control him. You are safe.

**Death Aspect: Sure, sure… you're safe… Just review.**

_Life Aspect: for once we agree… Leave a good review._

Later…


	2. Spirit Magnus

_Life Aspect: Welcome back! We've kept the death aspect locked in a cage while writing this, so it should make more sense than the last chapter._

Umm… actually, you might want to be careful. He got out.

_Life Aspect: What? Oh crap…_

**Death Aspect: Don't worry; I'll let you finish this chapter. But be warned, my eventual revenge will be swift and brutal.**

Sigh. Anyway, despite my death aspect's efforts, I still don't own Baten Kaitos, Namco, or any affiliates. I am just borrowing their storylines for a while. I'll give them back eventually. Enjoy…

* * *

"Is not possible." said the Great Mizuti definitively. "Even the Great Mizuti can not make spirit magic Magnus without a spirit."

"I know, I know…" Kalas was still in a state of shock.

"Well, we ain't gonna figure this out just sitting around here" Said Gibari from where he was, leaning against the far wall.

"We have to wait for Savyna and Lyude to show up." Xhella reminded him.

The room that the four of them were in was part of the new imperial palace of Alafard. As the new prime minister, Lyude had enacted sweeping reforms in the way the people of the country were treated. Although he had intended to step down soon afterward, the people would not allow it. They insisted that he stay and rule, and refused his request to move out of the old palace. Even though the place still had a somewhat mechanical feel to it, it was much warmer now than on their first visit, over three years prior. The mechanical sentries had been replaced with statues of those who had died in the final battle with the forces of darkness, and security was limited to a few very loyal guards. Most of the lower floors were still used to house refugees from the old slave mining towns, but for the most part, those people had recovered and returned to work. Unlike Geldoblame, Lyude was well liked even by them, and as such they worked harder than ever to mine the Iron needed to help with the continuing rebuilding efforts.

"Well, what's taking them so long?" Gibari grumbled impatiently. "I mean, I was in the middle of the damn ocean and I got here faster than the guy that lives here."

"Gibari, be nice…" said Xhella with a sigh, she knew that he was just being himself, but he did have a point.

"Lyude say that he is going to try to find Savyna." offered Mizuti. "The Great Mizuti says that she can do it with her magic, but Lyude not want me to. He said that he could find Savyna on his own."

"And so I have" said a voice from the doorway. Everyone turned to see Lyude walking into the room, flanked closely by Savyna. He was wearing his old military uniform, slightly embellished to show his status. Savyna was also wearing her older clothing, and Kalas could see that she carried her deck of Magnus cards.

'In fact,' thought Kalas, 'everyone is wearing exactly what they were when I first met them all that time ago. Even Mizuti is wearing her mask again… It kind of makes me miss the battles we used to have…'

His thoughts were cut off as Lyude spoke again. "Before you start asking, No, I will not tell you where I found her. She has asked me to respect her privacy." The group seemed to nod as one, and only Gibari muttered something playful under his breath. Savyna glared at him for a second with murder in her eyes, and he shut up quickly. Lyude continued. "So, now that we're all here, let's start at the beginning."

Kalas took a deep breath and began in. "Well you all knew about my guardian spirit, Haru. We never could have defeated Malpercio without him. And he still believed in me when I…" Kalas paused, not wanting to meet the eyes of his companions. "Anyway, when Haru was bonded with me or Xhella, he could sometime loan us some of his power. He could change one or more of our Magnus into really powerful elemental effects. The stronger our bond got, the more of his power I could call on."

"Wait, go back for a second," interrupted Gibari. "I saw you two doing that stuff sometimes, and it was awesome and all, but what do you mean he replaced your Magnus?"

"Well, I'm not sure I can explain…"

Mizuti piped up, "Great Mizuti will tell then. Children of the earth have done much researching. Studying. Looking stuff up."

"Go ahead then, Great Mizuti," said Kalas, sitting back down.

"Well, a guardian spirit is the essence of a being from a higher plane of reality. When it bonds, it uses you as almost a living Magnus. Spirit goes into you and stays there, along with you. If the spirit likes you, it can put itself in other places too."

"Hmm? What do you mean by that?" asked Savyna, the first words that she had spoken since entering.

"When the spirit is in you," continued Mizuti, "you are still mostly you with a little spirit. If you have a strong bond, then the spirit can put part of itself into a Magnus that already has something in it. Then the spirit and the item are both in the Magnus, like the spirit and you are both in you. The Magnus is then mostly spirit with a little other stuff. The Magnus will change to show this. Then you release the part of the spirit as a great spell. If the bond with the spirit is weak, then it is hard for it to return to the host body. The stronger the bond, the more of the spirit can be put into the Magnus and the stronger the spell. When the spirit goes back into you, the Magnus returns to normal."

"So in order for this spell to be here…" Xhella started.

Kalas finished the thought for her. "Part of Haru must be trapped in this card."

The group sat in stunned silence for a moment before Lyude spoke up. "So Kalas, have you actually tried using this card yet? In an actual battle?"

"No, I came straight here when we found this"

"Well what are we waiting for? Kalas, you and I are overdue for a sparring match, right?" Gibari had stood up completely and grabbed his paddle-blade. "Let's get going."

Savyna was about to make a rather rude remark about the stupidity of this suggestion, but she was cut off by Lyude's laugh. "That won't be necessary. We can accommodate you at our training grounds."

"Training grounds?" asked Xhella, surprised "I thought you disliked having an army."

"Well, yes, but when the world was in peril we were unprepared. That will not happen again." Lyude seemed uncharacteristically sure of himself. "I don't want to rule through military might, but I must protect the people of Alafard."

"Let's go!" shouted Gibari as he rushed out of the room, almost knocking over a pair of guards who were outside the door. Sighing as one, the rest of the group followed him.

Moments later, they stood outside in a large, flat area flanked by small metal storage units. One such unit was currently open, and a pair of servants was wheeling out one of the old sentry-bots. Kalas stood in the middle of the training grounds, adjusting his winglet. "Why do you still wear that thing?" Gibari asked. "We can't fly anymore, and you wouldn't even be able to open it without falling over."

"I know," replied Kalas, "but I spent so long with one, it seems odd not to wear it. It's comfortable, somehow. Familiar."

Lyude interrupted their conversation, saying that the training area was set up. "Now, once I activate this thing, it will really be trying to hurt you," he told Kalas. "I've set it to the highest alert level, so be careful."

Kalas grinned. "I can handle myself. I just hope you don't mind losing a training bot." Lyude smiled back and then he and the others moved to the side of the area, out of the way of combat. The servants did likewise. Lyude signaled to Kalas that he was starting, and then pressed a small button on a remote that he held.

Immediately, the machine sprung to life. It quickly scanned the arena, and then settled its receptors on Kalas. Kalas drew his swords, picked up a few cards, and charged. He chose some weaker attacks just to warm up with. His blades, charged with the energy of his Magnus, left several gashes in the sentry's metallic exterior. The machine responded with several strikes, but Kalas was able to deflect most of the damage with a few hastily summoned shields. "I'm goin' for it!" he yelled to the group, who all gave him a thumbs-up. Kalas again charged, this time choosing stronger attacks. A few shots from his Dimension Blade and Apocalypse Sword left the machine in pretty bad shape. Kalas leapt back and prepared his spirit card.

"I am time, hear my voice!" Kalas called out the familiar incantation as he held up the Magnus. "Spirit Magic: LINGERING TIME!"

The air around the damaged sentry began to swirl and distort. Shards of green energy sprung out of empty space and wrapped themselves into a sphere around the area. These began to spin, faster and faster, and then suddenly froze. For an instant, time stood still around the robot. Then the fabric of reality crashed back in with a rush of sound and green light. The shards became blades of time as they crushed together. The chronal overload finished the robot. One of its arms flew completely off, its circuitry fried, and the majority of its exterior corroded instantly. It collapsed into a heap of scrap metal.

"Well, that was overkill," commented Gibari from the sidelines. Kalas didn't move. "Kalas…?" Gibari started.

"Wha…?" Kalas started to speak, but then stopped. His body collapsed to the ground. His eyes remained open, and his face showed a frozen expression of confusion and shock. Xhella screamed.

"Kalas!"

* * *

Kalas felt an incredible rush of energy as he unleashed the magic of the card, then a very strange sensation as the spell finished. It was a feeling that he had had once before, a long time ago, when his brother Fee had sacrificed himself in order to give Kalas his spark of life. Kalas was unaware of it at the time, but Fee had also passed on the secret to immortality in that moment. This feeling that Kalas had now was similar to that, yet different. It was as if the entire life energy of another was forcibly entering his body. His vision faded, but this feeling remained, infusing every fiber of his being and leaving him with a dull tingle all over his body. The sensation grew less and less intense, and then stopped altogether.

Kalas was aware of a floating sensation. He still couldn't see, but he could feel the void around him. There was only himself and one other thing here. It was not a physical object, but more of a formless consciousness. Kalas cold feel it moving towards him, and him moving towards it. It felt very comfortable, and very, very familiar. "Haru?" Kalas asked into the darkness.

"_Kalas?_" came the reply, not out loud, but as an ethereal voice in the back of his mind.

"Where are we?" asked Kalas.

"_I don't know_"

"Why are we here?"

"_Because we need to be._"

"Why?"

There was a long pause. Finally, the spirit's reply came, and Kalas got a definite sense of worry from the tone. "_I can't remember. We have to do something. Something important. But I can't remember what._"

Kalas felt himself and his spirit moving. He still couldn't see, but he had the feeling that the two of them were rushing towards something. "Haru?"

"_Yes?_"

Kalas didn't know whether or not the spirit could see him, but he still smiled confidently. Wherever they were going, Kalas wanted to be ready. "Lets go!"

* * *

So, now is the time for much reviewage. I promise future chapters will be more action, but I felt the explanations would become key to the future storylines, so I had to do them.

_Life Aspect: Yeah, we gotta keep the readers up to date on what's going on. Otherwise they might stop reading._

**Death Aspect: Nah, they want action! I'm gonna be helping to write the next few chapters, so there'll be plenty to go around.**

_Life Aspect: Make sure I read it over before you post it. I need to make sure you weren't being too… well you know…_

**Death Aspect: Wait, what's that supposed to mean. Hey! Get back here!**

Sigh. Well, I'll try to post regularly whenever possible, and I hope you keepreading and reviewing. (Please Review. Please…)


	3. Fragment of Memory

Welcome back again. Today should be easier because I've locked my aspects away for a while, so I can do this without distraction. To the people who reviewed my first few chapters, thanks a lot (and special thanks to PhoenixFire for pointing out my terrible spelling. I can't believe I spelled Xella's name wrong!) Here is the next chapter for you all. Enjoy!

Oh and before I forget again, a disclaimer and such. I don't own Baten Kaitos. But you knew that already. So why am Itelling you? Because of these things called lawsuits. I don't make the rules, and I don't break them either. (Well, not often, anyway. And usually they just end up bent beyond recognition, not really broken…)

* * *

The feeling of movement gradually slowed. Kalas could not be sure, but he thought he saw a point of light in the distance. It seemed to be getting closer… 

Suddenly the point exploded into a blur of silent color all around them. Images, like light speed memories, flew past. Kalas tried to focus on one or another, but they were all passing far too fast. Despite the speed that the images were moving, the feeling of movement had ceased altogether. Whatever they were here to see, it was now coming to them. Kalas turned back to try to catch a coherent glimpse in the light that was rushing past, but instead was greeted by a strange sight. In front of him was what appeared to be a mirror image of himself, formed of smoke and energy. The copy was looking around at the light passing them by, just as Kalas had been a moment ago. After a brief second of confusion, Kalas realized that he was "seeing" his guardian spirit for the first time. Most of the time, he just sensed its presence, or heard its voice in his mind. Here in this non-space, however, the spirit had form, a form that was almost disturbingly similar to his own.

One of the pictures that were flying past caught Kalas's eye. He only saw the briefest glimpse, but he was sure that he had seen Xella in that fragment of light. She was on the ground bleeding, with a dark figure standing over her. By the time he focused his eyes, the image was long gone, but it left Kalas with a chill that ran through his entire consciousness. He opened his mouth to ask Haru a question.

And then they were there. There was no warning, no transition. They were simply surrounded by swirling images one second and then in one the next. Kalas tried to blink, because the light was much different here than it had been in the maelstrom of memory which they had just exited, but found he could not. He tried to look for Haru, but could not move. "What's going on?" he asked aloud, but could tell that he hadn't actually made a sound. Nevertheless, Haru had heard him somehow.

"_I'm not sure. I think we are only here as observers._" The spirit's mental voice had an odd tone to it, as if he were incredibly distracted. For a moment, Kalas couldn't understand why, and then he focused his vision, and would have gasped if he were actually breathing.

He was looking down on a very familiar area. The trees and low light clearly marked it as Nekton, The Shrine of Spirits in his old homeland of Mira. This clearing in particular held a very special significance to Kalas and Haru. This was where Kalas had fled after Giacomo had killed his grandfather. It was here that Kalas's brother Fee had given up his life energy and the "Divine Child" so that Kalas could live. In this very clearing, Kalas had first met Melodia, the single person who would cause him more trouble than anyone he had ever met. But possibly most significant of all, it was here that Kalas had first bonded with Haru, a union that would eventually save the world from destruction.

However, more disturbing than the setting of this scene were the characters. Off to one side was a girl with light purple hair, a disturbing smile and dark eyes. Melodia looked exactly as she had when Kalas had first seen her all those years ago. In fact, this scene looked exactly as it had on that day, for sitting on the ground directly below Kalas vas a very familiar blue-haired child, wearing a very familiar custom designed winglet. "But… That's me!" Kalas said in wonder.

"_I recognize this too. This is when we met. Exactly the way it was back then. Kalas, I think that we are looking at an old memory of mine._" Haru sounded as awe-stricken as Kalas felt.

The young Kalas looked up at where Kalas and Haru were watching from. The young Melodia spoke. "I think that spirit likes you. Why don't you try talking to it?" Her voice sounded far away, but the powerful memories it invoked almost made Kalas cry out. He held it together, though, and he knew what the next words spoken would be before his younger self had even opened his mouth.

"Hello, I'm Kalas. May I ask you your name?"

Kalas was suddenly distracted by a very strange feeling in the back of his mind. It was if someone had compressed all of the emotion in a scream into a single point and then detonated it inside his skull. He almost cried out in pain, but he was far more concerned for his companion. "Haru!" he managed through the pain, "What is it? What's going on?"

Haru's mental voice came back very strained. It was obvious to Kalas that the spirit was in a great deal of pain, but he still forced the words out. "_I… Something is very wrong… this memory… It is not what it should be… Not what it was… This isn't right… NO!_"

As if to punctuate Haru's last exclamation, there was a sudden flood of bright green light into the clearing below them. The young Kalas and Melodia turned towards the source in surprise, and Kalas tried to do the same, but found he still could not shift his vantage point at all. If could move his fists in this state, he would have slammed them against some nearby object. That light certainly had not been there when this had happened, and if they were there to see something, that was probably it, but he couldn't see what was going on. Then from the direction of the light came a voice that Kalas wouldn't forget for the rest of his life. It was cold, and distant, and cruel, and although he could not see the speaker he got the distinct impression of pure malicious intent. "Well, it looks like it worked. Heh! Excellent! Let's do this." The shudder that ran through Kalas's entire consciousness came not from the words, but from the almost visible evil that came with them.

"Hello?" said the younger Kalas, shielding his eyes as he looked towards the source of the light. "Who are you? What are you…?" But the question never got finished. The young Kalas was suddenly wrapped in a whirlwind of dark energy. He didn't even have time to cry out in pain before he was hurled through a nearby tree. He sprawled on the ground, bleeding and unconscious or worse. From the position of his limbs, at least one arm had been broken. The young Melodia stood in shock.

Kalas grunted in pain. The same arm that he had just watched his younger self break suddenly burst into dull but painful tingle. Haru must have sensed his companion's pain, because he asked "_Are you alright? What happened?_"

"I'm not sure." replied Kalas. "But I felt that. That Kalas and I are connected, but I'm not quite sure how."

Haru was about to respond, but there was more movement below. Something made a new silhouette against the light, but Kalas still couldn't see what. A new voice came, this one higher pitched, but no less cold and detached. "Well now, that was unnecessary." There was a grunt in response. "Fine then, we'll just get what we came for then." The silhouette of the newcomer moved until its possessor was at the very edge of Kalas's vision. He strained to grasp details, but was still denied by his position. The young Melodia's expression changed from one of shock to fear, and she turned as if to run, but was suddenly enveloped in a cocoon of golden energy, and stood perfectly still, seemingly frozen. The figure stepped further into Kalas's range of vision, and he saw the reason for the young Melodia's fear.

The newcomer was a female with dark purple hair and large black bat-like wings. She laughed, and Kalas recalled hearing the same sound many times before. He couldn't see her eyes, but he was sure that they would be deep pools of inky blackness. This person was none other than Melodia herself, exactly as she was at the height of her rule of Cor Hydre. She practically radiated evil power as she stepped towards her younger self. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out five small objects. With growing horror, Kalas recognized the golden glow surrounding them. "T-those are…"

"_The end Magnus!_" Haru finished for him. "_No! It's not possible…_"

The evil Melodia spoke to her younger self. "Hello there my dear. Don't worry, this shouldn't hurt. Too much, anyway. You have something that we need, and we'll just be taking it now." She held up the five end Magnus, and they began to move on their own. They circled the young Melodia, who was still frozen by their power. As their dance became faster, something began to happen to the young girl. A golden mist began to arise from her body, and as it fled it was absorbed by the end Magnus. The young Melodia opened her mouth as if to scream, but no sound came out. Finally, the flow of power out of her body stopped, and she slumped to the ground. The older Melodia caught the end Magnus and looked at them, smiling. "We got it." Then she turned to her now unconscious younger version. "Don't worry, I left enough to keep you alive, but you won't be going anywhere any time soon."

"Yo Melodia!" Came the other voice again, but Kalas still could not see the speaker. "Quit playing. We still have another job to do here, remember?"

The evil Melodia laughed again, and Kalas cringed at the hauntingly familiar sound. "Right, right. You sure you don't want to do this? I would have thought that it would be fun to kill someone twice."

Only a growl came as an answer. From the mixture of hurt and amusement on Melodia's face, her partner must have given her an incredibly angry look.

"Fine then, I'll do it." With that she turned and looked up. With a start, Kalas realized that she was staring at where he was now. "Ah, there you are, little guardian. Sorry, but you have to die now, or you will get in the way later. Bye bye…" With that she raised a hand that held a black Magnus. "Darkness Flare!" she said, and inky energy at once began seeping out of the card.

"_What… this isn't right at all…_" Haru began, but then Melodia launched the energy upward at them. Kalas felt his spirit scream in severe pain. It seemed as if it was doubled somehow, and Kalas realized that he was hearing the screams of both his Haru and the past version from the memory. His struggled to keep his eye on the scene, but it slowly faded out, and he was left again floating in an empty void.

"Haru?" Kalas asked. When the reply came, it was shaky and somewhat distant.

"_Y-Yes?_"

"What in the world was that?"

"_I… I think it was a fragment of my memory, but it was all wrong… It never happened that way… Kalas, I think I just died._"

Kalas was silent for a moment. When he spoke, his voice was full of anger and determination. "We have to stop this. Whatever's happening, it's up to us to put an end to it."

"_Kalas?_"

"Yes?"

"_Thank you…_"

* * *

Kalas opened his eyes, and for the third time that day was momentarily blinded by intense light. As the spots in front of his eyes faded, He saw several faces standing over him. Xella was right next to the bed that he was laying on, and she let out a sigh of relief when she saw that he was awake. Lyude was standing not far behind her, and Mizuti was on the other side of the bed. Savyna and Gibari were leaning against opposite walls, but both stood up as Kalas began to sit up. Xella asked the now routine questions first. "What happened? Are you alright?" 

"I…" Kalas began, but he was not sure exactly how to explain what he had just experienced. He looked around the room at everyone. "I'm not sure…"

"_Yes, that was… most disturbing._" Said the voice in the back of his mind.

"Haru?" everyone exclaimed with a mixture and surprise.

"_Oh… Hello everyone. It's been a while, hasn't it?_" Everyone just stood there in stunned silence, and despite what he had just been through, Kalas couldn't help but smile to himself. Whatever was going on, there was no way that they could fail to stop it now that everyone was back together, right. This was the same group that had brought him back from the brink of darkness, and then had helped him take down a god. There was nothing that they couldn't accomplish. He cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention.

"Sorry if we worried you guys."

"What exactly happened to you?" asked Gibari. "You fall down, re asleep for over six hours, and then wake up with a guardian spirit. Now, I know normal has rarely applied to you, but that is still not normal!"

"Ah, well…" Kalas proceeded to explain what he and Haru had seen, with some help from said spirit. He went through Haru's unexpected return, and the entirety of the corrupted memory. When he was finished, he looked around to see people's reactions. Xella seemed most concerned for Kalas and the strange pain he had felt when he saw his younger self attacked. Gibari just looked angry. Lyude stood contemplating the entire matter. Savyna had her eyes closed, deep in thought. And Mizuti… well no one could ever tell what she was thinking when she wore that mask of hers. Kalas considered asking why she had it on again, but he had a feeling that it was the same reason that he had grabbed his swords and cloak that morning.

Lyude was the first to speak. "So something has happened in tour past that you don't remember at all. Could someone have altered your memory in some way?"

"No, I don't think so," replied Kalas. "Haru doesn't remember this either, and besides, if someone had modified our memories, we would probably have realized it by now. I mean, I have some experience with…" He stopped, remembering the last time he had played with memories. He had erased most of his guardian spirit's, and it had caused a great deal of pain and trouble for them both. He was not eager to again call forth such bad thoughts.

Luckily, Haru saved him from his brooding. _"No, it was as if someone had gone back and actually changed what had happened._"

"You mean, like time travel or something?" asked Gibari. "Is that even possible?"

"Theoretically," interjected Mizuti. "Possibly. Maybe. We change time constantly."

"Change… time? What do you mean by that?" asked Xella. "I mean, I know that the great Mizuti and I can use Chronos spells, but that isn't changing time so much as just using it."

Mizuti was about to answer, but suddenly an intense tremor ripped through the entire area. Gibari and Savyna managed to remain standing, and Lyude was able to grab onto a nearby table for support, but Xella was pitched forward onto the bed where Kalas still sat. He managed to catch her before she completely fell onto the floor. Mizuti just calmly floated there until the shaking had stopped.

"An earthquake?" Xella asked when she caught her breath.

"That's odd," said Lyude. "We haven't had one for a while now. They were fairly common around here right after the islands fell out of the sky, but they were rarely that strong. Usually, just a little rumble." He walked out of the room for a moment to talk to the guard outside, and then returned.

"This can't be good," Said Savyna flatly. "So, what do we do about it?"

"Well, if someone is changing things in the past, we need to do more research on this time-traveling business," said Xella, standing up once more. "Mizuti, can you and the Children of the Earth help us with that?" Mizuti nodded. "Alright then," Xella continued, "Then all we need to do is… oh." Xhella stood in place for a second with everyone staring at her, and then she began to fall.

Kalas jumped up to catch her before she fainted entirely. "Xella!" he and Haru both yelled simultaneously, but she was already unconscious.

"Not this again," muttered Gibari as he crossed the room to help Kalas lift Xella onto the bed. "This is too many times for one day."

Savyna punched him in the arm rather hard. "Shut up and help." He helped lift Xella without a word, but if looks could kill, Savyna would have been on the floor bleeding.

* * *

Garude enjoyed being a guard at Lyude's palace. He found the new 'Prime Minister' much easier and nicer to work for than emperor Geldoblame had ever been. Lyude honestly cared about the country and its people, and Garude found it rewarding to guard him. Not that he really needed guarding, as everyone loved him, but it was still a good job. 

That said, Garude also enjoyed his time off. The world had never had a true beach until the islands had fallen from the sky, but now that it did Garude enjoyed being there. He loved to swim, something that he had never gotten a chance to do before there was an ocean. Today however, all he wanted to do was sit in the sun. He gazed out over the ocean. This was a rather private stretch of beach, so there were no swimmers here. "Well," he said to himself, "maybe just a quick dip…" He began to walk down to the water, but stopped. It seemed somehow further away than it had been when he had arrived. At first he thought it was just an unusually low tide, but as he watched the water seemed to be receding. He looked up and down the beach, but it was the same as far as he could see. The coastline was visibly growing, and the ocean was disappearing. In fact as He watched, it seemed to be shrinking faster with each passing second.

"Shit! What's going on here?" He asked no one. Quickly he pulled his clothing back on and turned to leave, but something was blocking his path. It was a pair of small, bat like creatures known as Shawra. One of the pair noticed him and let out a screech, and suddenly they were both charging at him. Garude grabbed his weapon and instinctively loaded a pair of sonic Magnus into the ammo chamber. Two shots later, both monsters lay dead at his feet. "Alright, what in the hell is going on?" Garude shouted to no one.

These were definitely what were classified as 'Monsters.' They were weak ones, to be sure, but still monsters. The appearance of such creatures had become less and less common since the fall of the islands, to the point that they were believed extinct over a year ago. Garude cursed again. Something was going very wrong, and while not entirely certain what all of this meant, he was sure that he should tell Lyude as soon as possible. "So much for my vacation," he muttered to himself as he dashed off in the general direction of the palace.

* * *

So, what did you think? 

**Death Aspect: Not enough violence yet.**

_Life Aspect: And still not enough good explanation._

Wah! I thought I had you two locked away in a dark corner of my mind…

_Life Aspect: Well, you see the thing about that is…_

**Death Aspect: We looked into it and realized that I am the dark corner of your mind. So I just let us out.**

Ah. Well crap. So now what?

_Life Aspect: Now we ask for more reviews, of course._

Oh, no unholy vengeance? Ok then… (Ahem) Please review if you've read this far. I really do want to know what you thought, and apparently I will still be alive to read the reviews.

**Death Aspect: Heh heh he… Sure, we won't hurt you… By the way, do you remember that Gamecube thing that you loved so much?**

Um… yeah…

**Death Aspect: Well, I blew it up.**

WHAT? (Smashes Death Aspect into a wall)

_Life Aspect: Just kidding. But seriously, don't try to seal us away again._

Fine, I'll be good…

**Death Aspect: The… pain… **

So, as I was saying, review and I'll see you in the next chapter. Later…


	4. Wars, Water and Wings

I hereby officially dedicate this chapter to my utter hatred of the last Ice Queen of Wazn. Why do I hate her so much? Because she gave her daughter a &$#!# stupidly spelled name, that's why. I have now spelled Xelha's name wrong in two separate ways over the past three chapters. AARGH! Alright, calm down… If we kill all the people at NAMCO then they can't make the DS version of Baten Kaitos… Deep breaths… (Sigh…)

**Death Aspect: Better now?**

Yes. I think so.

**Death Aspect: Good, then let's go channel some of that anger into the writing. I want this chapter to be full to the brim with fights and violence.**

I'll see what I can do…

_Life Aspect: Wait a minute, you have to do the… Oh never mind, I'll do it myself. We do not own Baten Kaitos, its plot, its characters, or anything else that NAMCO might sue us for claiming that we own. Enjoy the chapter._

* * *

"First you, now Xelha," Said Gibari after they had finished lifting her onto the bed. "Just what the hell is going on around here?"

Everyone stood in silence for a moment. Kalas opened his mouth to speak but a guard burst through the door and beat him to it. "Prime Minister Lyude, sir. The old imperial walkers have activated on their own! They've swarmed the training grounds, and are attempting to enter the palace!"

Lyude Hated being called 'sir,' but the urgency of the guard's message erased any thought of correcting him from Lyude's mind. "What? What's the situation? How long has this been going on?"

"It started as soon as the earthquake happened, sir. The old sentries just began tearing their way out of the storage sheds. We were caught completely by surprise. Most of us managed to fall back to the palace entrances, but they just followed us. We are trying to hold them off, but it isn't looking good."

"Alright." said Lyude with a nod of his head. "I will obtain my weapon and assist. Go back to the battle and tell them that I am coming, if they can hold on a little bit longer."

"No need to do that," said Savyna. "I can handle this. The people wouldn't want the prime minister to get hurt, now would they?"

Gibari walked up behind her. "You don't think I'll be letting you have all the fun, now do you?"

"Hmmph. Do you even have a deck with you?" Savyna asked contemptuously.

"Always," he replied. "I think the two of us will be more than enough, Lyude. You can stay here."

"No!" said Lyude. "It is my job to protect the people of this country. I won't fail in that duty."

Gibari and Savyna grinned and nodded. "See you there," said Gibari as they dashed out of the room, Gibari and Savyna following the guard to the battle and Lyude heading for the armory. Kalas watched them go.

"_You want to go help them, don't you,_" said Haru to Kalas.

"Well yes, but…"

"_But you also want to stay here with Xelha, Right?_" Kalas nodded. "_I understand._"

"Besides," said Mizuti, "The great Mizuti needs to know more about this memory of Haru's. Much mystery is still left for us to figure out."

* * *

The training grounds were a mess. Parts of mechanical sentries were strewn over the ground, intermingled with the occasional human body. To the guards' credit, there were roughly four destroyed robots for every human casualty, but the palace's defenders were being slowly overrun by sheer numbers.

"Well, Lyude's training seems to be paying off for these guys," Said Gibari as they ran through the outer doors onto the training area turned battlefield. "When they were under Geldoblame's command, they would have been no match for these walkers."

"You there!" shouted Savyna to a nearby guard. "What's your status?"

The guard fired off a round, then turned to look for the speaker. He seemed surprised to see Savyna and Gibari on this field of war. "Civilians, clear the area!" he shouted to them.

Savyna took a step closer to him and said in her best militaristic voice, "I am Lady Death, formerly of the Mad Wolf unit, so do not call me a civilian. Now answer the question. What's your status?"

This particular guard had apparently been with the military long enough to recognize the significance of the Mad Wolf unit, because he immediately saluted. "A-apologies miss Lady Death. We have managed to push the old Sentries back from the doors, but there is too many of them. If we continue at this rate, they will eventually break through and get inside."

"Right then," said Gibari, "Lets get to work." He grabbed a handful of Magnus from his belt pouch, glanced at them briefly, and selected one. Pressing the card against his paddle blade, he charged headlong into the fray.

Savyna sighed. "Make sure you don't shoot him," she said to the guard before pulling pot her own deck and charging in after Gibari. She hastily summoned a fiery gauntlet out of her first Magnus and wrapped her fists in blazing energy. With a yell, she swung and crushed the head of the first walker that she approached. Before its melted remains had even hit the ground, Savyna was already beating on a second with her Dragon Claws Magnus.

Gibari, meanwhile, was thoroughly enjoying himself. This was the first real fight that he had been in since the monsters began disappearing, and he planned to make the most of it. He charged his paddle blade with the light energy of his Rainbow Ash Magnus and swung away, cleanly slicing in half an imperial walker that was hovering over a disarmed guard. Gibari spotted the man's gun and kicked it to him before activating a Power Blade and laying into another robot. This hit was not as clean as the last one had been, and it sent the machine flying through the air. He cried out in alarm as he realized where it was going to land. "Oy! Savyna, look out."

He needn't have worried though. Savyna registered the mass of metal falling out of the sky at her head and calmly drew a Magnus. Her body was instantly wrapped in the fiery aura of her Phoenix Crest. She met the plummeting metal with a single, expertly placed kick and landed gracefully as the melted hunks of robot splashed to the ground around her. "Gibari, quit playing around!" she called to him across the battlefield.

"Aww, c'mon. You're having fun and you know it." He turned away from her to confront another Walker. Glancing down at the Magnus he held, he couldn't help but smile. "Destructive Power…" he called out as a dark vortex formed around his body. "…Spiraling Gale!" He smashed his paddle with all of his might into the sentry, transferring the dark energy from himself to the helpless robot. Within seconds, most of the mecha's outer layer had been ripped off, and the main body was sent flying into another robot, destroying both. "See, I can have fun and do a good job at the same time."

"You need to stop with the jokes," Savyna said flatly. The area suddenly grew very cold as she shouted a few words and unleashed Hellblood's Hammer. Several enemies dropped under the resulting flurry of icy fists, their internal circuitry damaged beyond repair. "Battles should be fought to be won."

"Agreed," Said Lyude as he joined the battle. He raised his sonic gun and fired off a barrage of shots with a speed and accuracy that impressed even Savyna. Several sentries dropped with large holes through their central processors. "We need to end this." With that, he threw a single Magnus into the air above his head. Light energy poured out of it and began to take the shape of a massive weapon. Lyude leapt up into the center of this gigantic light cannon. "Extreme Attack: FINALE!" As he shouted the last word, his weapon fired. A hail of light bullets fell on the battle, each one seeking out a single target and obliterating it instantaneously. Gibari and Savyna were momentarily blinded by the bright flashes. When their vision cleared, they and the palace guards stood among a junkyard of shattered machine parts. Lyude calmly caught his Finale Magnus and tucked it back into his deck pouch. Then he pulled a handful of Magnus out of another pocket and began handing them to the remaining guards. "These are Wonder MOMO," he explained as he did this. "They can cure all but the most serious of mortal wounds. Find anyone still alive and heal them. Soldier, servant, or civilian, I don't care. Minimize the casualties as much as possible." The assembled soldiers saluted as one, then began to search for survivors.

Gibari managed to find his voice again. "W-woah! That was…"

"Quite impressive," Savyna finished for him. "Apparently the Prime Minister is exactly the right man for the job. I don't know if I have ever seen him fight so fiercely or so effectively before."

Lyude meanwhile was talking to one of his captains. "Alright, tell me exactly what happened."

"Well," began the still-shaken guard, "We were just doing our normal patrols when the earthquake happened. We glanced outside to make sure that nothing had fallen over, and we saw these things just tearing straight out of their storage boxes. I tried to pull an alarm, but they weren't working, probably because of the quake. We began shouting for backup, because the Sentries were coming straight for the palace, and then suddenly we were all fighting. Then these two showed up, and then that's where you came in."

"Thank you, that will be all," said Lyude. He turned to speak to Savyna and Gibari, but just then a cry came from across the now ruined training grounds.

"Prime Minister, sir!" A single guard was running across the ruined expanse towards them. Lyude recognized him at once as one of his most trusted security personnel.

"Garude. What's wrong? I thought you were on vacation today."

"I… I was… but…" began the guard as he approached them, clearly out of breath. "But something is wrong with the ocean. It's… disappearing!"

"The ocean is… disappearing?" asked Lyude

"Oh crap!" said Gibari. From the expression on Savyna and Lyude's faces they had drawn the same conclusion that he had. "Xelha…"

"Wait… there's more," said Garude. "The monsters are back. I had to fight through five groups of them on my way back here."

"Monsters?" wondered Lyude. "And earthquakes. And the disappearance of the ocean. Everything that happened after our final battle is undoing itself in reverse order. And that means the next thing will be…" Gibari, Savyna, and Lyude were running back to the palace as fast as they could before he even finished the thought.

* * *

"So you see we change time constantly with our Magnus, but also with our choices."

"I think I get it now," said Kalas. He and Mizuti had been discussing the nuances of time alteration for a while now, but it was slow going because of Kalas's general lack of knowledge on the subject. "So if we made a choice differently at some point, it could change a lot."

"Exactly. Precisely. Completely. But to change something that has already happened after making a choice is much harder. It requires much power. Not even the Great Mizuti has that much power, and Great Mizuti be invincible."

"Yeah, but we know something that does have that much power," replied Kalas. "Malpercio."

"But Malpercio be dead. Gone. Bye bye."

"_In the memory, Melodia had the five End Magnus,_" contributed Haru. "_If someone had those, could they travel through time?_"

"Yes… The Great Mizuti not be sure, but I think so."

Kalas's thoughts were interrupted by a sound from Xelha until now, she had lain perfectly still, but now she began to shudder. She was mumbling something in her sleep, but Kalas couldn't make out all of it. He moved closer trying to understand, but when he heard her words, he pulled back in surprise. "…Oh mighty ocean…"

"That's… that's the ocean prayer of the ice queens of Wazn," he stammered. "I haven't heard her use that in years. Not since… not since she unsealed the ocean three years ago. Oh no…"

Kalas's back suddenly felt very strange, as if several million ants were crawling over his right shoulder. He tried to cry out, but the sensation had rendered him speechless. Mizuti looked worriedly at him as he stood over Xelha completely frozen. Xelha suddenly sat up and screamed, and Kalas's voice joined hers. From Kalas's back, a single white feathered wing burst forth. At the same time, Xelha sprouted a pair of iridescent butterfly-like wings. In the hallway, Kalas heard Lyude, Savyna, and Gibari also call out in alarm, and guessed that they must be having a similar experience.

Lyude was the first to recover, owing to the fact that his wings had always been stunted due to his family's long reliance on imperial winglets. He entered the room as Kalas shook off the odd sensation of regrowing his lost wing. Xelha shook her head to clear it. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Everything that happened after the fall of Cor Hydre is undoing itself!" shouted Gibari as he entered the room. The monsters are back, and the ocean is gone. And now, we have our wings back."

"What?" exclaimed Kalas. "The ocean is gone?" He turned to Xelha and could se by the look on her face that she knew it already. "Xelha, did you…?" Suddenly the entire palace shook more violently than before. "What the…?"

"Kalas," said Xelha, "If everything is undoing itself, then what happened before we lost our wings?"

"Well, we fought Geldoblame… and before that we had the party…"

"_Yes, but what happened right after we won?_" said Haru

Realization dawned in Kalas's eyes. He ran to the window and reached it just in time to grab it for support as another tremor shook the palace to its foundations. Gravity suddenly seemed increased, and there was a sudden and drastic change in the air pressure of the room. "Oh shi…" was all Kalas could manage before the breath was stolen from his lungs by a violent upward motion.

With a terrible screech of shattering stone, Alafard ripped itself free from the earth and sped skyward to once again take its place among the islands of the sky.

* * *

**Death Aspect: well, the fight scene was OK… but it could have been longer. **

Now look. I have to move the story along, and fights just don't do that fast enough.

_Life Aspect: Can we please stop arguing and ask for reviews?_

Fine fine… Please review my works and I promise more explanations are on their way. I want to give you some answers, but I also want to preserve some secrets for the shocking plot twists. (hey, the game had them, it would be a shame if I didn't) If you figure some of them out ahead of time, well then good for you, but I guarantee I will surprise you at least once. At least… I will try to.

PS: I have decided to name this story's guardian spirit Haru. Bonus non-points to anyone who can tell me what that name actually means, and super bonus non-points to anyone who knows how it relates to my penname. See y'all next chapter.

Later…


	5. New Resolve

I figure you've all waited long enough for this chapter, (Sorry sorry sorry…) so I won't even do a disclaimer. If you want to know what I do or don't own, see the previous four chapters. Enjoy!

* * *

No one spoke. No one screamed. The citizens of the world held their breath as one. Sadal Suud was the second to the sky, followed quickly by Diadem and Anuenue. Mira came last, most likely because of the dimensional vortex that even now swirled around it once more. The echoing sound of shattering stone slowly faded, and there was a collective sigh as everyone exhaled in unison. Below the now floating islands, the Taintclouds silently spread over the dry and ruined earth…

* * *

Kalas finally regained use of his lungs. "This… has got… to stop. Now."

Xelha, Lyude, Gibari, Savyna, and Mizuti nodded in unison. The Raising of the islands, the disappearance of the ocean, and the re-emergence of the monsters had used up the last of the group's disbelief. Now, there was only a grim determination. Someone was undoing everything they had worked so hard to accomplish three years ago, and they were determined to stop it.

"Mizuti," Said Kalas, "How long will it take you to figure out this time travel business?"

"Forty hours. Mizuti needs to check on the children of earth. They may need Mizuti's help" Although still referring to herself in the third person, most of the normal singsongy quality was gone from Mizuti's voice. She sounded very flat behind her wooden mask.

"I shall need to stabilize the people of Alafard as well." Said Lyude, "And I will need to contact Lakedahn, Corellia, Rodolfo, and Calbren." The safety of our people must be our first concern."

"I'll talk to King Lakedahn for ya," said Gibari. "I want to head out that way to check on the celestial river anyway."

"And I will speak with Corellia on your behalf," said Savyna simply.

Kalas spoke up "Alright, I'm heading to Mira, so I'll talk to Duke Calbren. I want to check on Melodia…" He trailed off, but everyone understood his concerns. It was Melodia who had become infected with Malpercio's power last time, and He wanted to make sure that it wasn't happening again.

"Alright, then we will meet again in three days," said Lyude "At the Shrine of Spirits in Mira, if no one has any objections." No one said anything. The mood was grim at best. "Alright, let's go then. I will send word to the machine room so that you can all use our old skyships."

"Kalas and I can use the White Dragon," said Xelha.

"Xelha, I don't think…" Kalas began, but stopped when he saw the look in her eyes. "I mean, shouldn't you look in to see if the Ice Lands have returned as well?"

"Kalas," She almost shouted, "I'm coming with you." He didn't press the issue any further.

"_Let's Go!_"

* * *

Reports were exchanged. People were contacted. Monsters were fought. Three days later, to the minute, the group stood in the Shrine of Souls on Mira, with one notable addition. "Now that we're all here, Kalas, do you mind explaining why she is as well?" asked Gibari, indicating the new person.

Kalas stepped forward. "Melodia is here because she asked to be. She claims to have no connection to the recent events, and Xelha and I haven't been able to detect any of Malpercio's taint in her."

"It's just… I caused so much trouble, and you all worked so hard to fix it and save me," said Melodia in a quiet voice. "I want to help if I can…"

"And Melodia can be useful to us," said Mizuti. "The great Mizuti has found a way to travel in time. Maybe. Possibly. But is very dangerous, and only some can go."

"I'm going!" said Kalas without waiting for an explanation.

"Then I am too," Said Xelha quickly.

"Ah, ok… But the great Mizuti hasn't even explained how yet…"

Lyude laughed, which surprised everyone given how weary he looked. Kalas guessed that he had most likely not slept in the past few days. "I think we all share the sentiment though. Everyone wants to solve this no matter how. How many people can we send?"

"Err… three, I think."

Lyude smiled. "Then may I go as well?"

There was a surprised silence. "But… don't you have to take care of your country?" Savyna finally managed.

"If this isn't stopped, then I won't have a country," said Lyude, more seriously this time. "From the reports I have received, the monsters are back in full force. They are more aggressive than before, and I have had to spread my forces very thin to be able to protect just my country. I haven't even been able to aid the others. This seems to be the best way to help everyone."

"Right, then I guess we can stay here and help with the monster situation," said Gibari. "The celestial rivers are even more infested than before, and I can't leave everything to that fool, Reblys."

"But how will Melodia help us?" asked Savyna.

"If this works, then Kalas will need an emotional anchor," said Mizuti. "Someone he cares about in this time, to be able to come back. Otherwise they will be trapped in the past, and cause more problem than we solve."

"Someone he cares about…" said Xelha quietly.

"So," Said Kalas "How does this work, exactly?"

"Well, we need the help of your spirit."

Haru, who had been quiet until this point, spoke up. "_I'm ready._" Though he had no real voice, everyone could feel that he was as determined as the rest of them. "_What do I have to do?_"

Mizuti began a lengthy explanation, than only made sense to the group at some points. As she did this, she also drew a large circle on the ground, with some lines and bars around and inside of it. Luckily for the assembled heroes, she finished with a much simpler recap. "So, Haru needs to absorb the energy of our chronos Magnus, and then reflect it in without hurting people. Since he is the anchor to whatever time the problem is in, he should be able to transport you all there."

"Should be…?" asked Gibari doubtfully.

"Well, there is some possibility of error. A little. A tiny bit. But the children of the earth think about this for much time. They usually not be wrong."

"Are we powerful enough to do this?" asked Xelha. "I mean, you said before that we needed Malpercio level power to move through time."

"Ah yes," said Mizuti, "That be the other part. Mizuti will need the three sacred objects." Kalas and Xelha reached through their decks. Kalas had kept the Sword of Light, and Xelha still held the Ocean Mirror and Earth Pendant. They pulled the cards out, and were surprised by what they saw. The images on the cards had almost completely faded, so that they were barely visible. The writing was beginning to blur as well. Mizuti saw this, and said hurriedly, "We must be quick now. Each of you take one of these, and stand in the circle.

Lyude, Kalas, and Xelha each did as they were told. "_I'm ready whenever you are,_" said Haru.

The others took up positions around the circle. "Ready… Now!" yelled Mizuti. "Chronos Blow!" Gibari swung with his Spatula Magnus. Even Savyna contributed the energies of an ancient coin to the spell.

The air swirled around Kalas. He felt strange, as if he were standing in an area of calm in the middle of a tornado. The area outside the circle in which he stood seemed blurred and distorted. He could feel Haru cringe in pain. "You alright?" he asked quietly, just to his spirit.

"_I'll be fine…_" replied Haru, but Kalas could tell that this hurt him more than he was admitting. They heard Mizuti yell again, and another wave of temporal energy washed through them. This time Kalas could literally feel Haru's pain. He opened his mouth to speak again, but as If reading his mind, the spirit spoke first. "_I… Can… Do this…_"

There was a third shout from Mizuti, a third rush of energy, and a strange gut-wrenching feeling, as if Kalas had been suddenly falling from a great height. Then, in a flash of green, they were gone.

Gibari watched the sphere of energy that had held his friends vanish into nothingness. Wind rushed in to fill the vacuum created by the departure, blurring the lines of the time-circle that Mizuti had drawn. "So, what now? I don't like sitting on my ass doing nothing…"

"I'm sure we can find something that needs beating up," said Savyna. "Come on…"

The y turned to leave, but Melodia laid a hand on Mizuti's shoulder. "Umm… How exactly will they get back?"

"The great Mizuti not be sure." Melodia was surprised by the lack of worry in Mizuti's voice.

"But…"

"Do not worry. They are them. They are as invincible as the Great Mizuti, and they can do this."

* * *

**Death Aspect: What in the world was that? No fighting at all!**

_Life Aspect: That was what we like to call 'Plot.' It is kind of necessary to the story._

Don't worry. I have some really fun fights planned for later chapters.

**Death Aspect: You better, or I will never let you sleep at night.**

_Life Aspect: Umm… We rarely let him sleep mow… But whatever._

(Sigh) Anyway, please review and my next update will be posted when I have enough time to write it and enough reviews to make it worthwhile. Later…


	6. Where and When?

Hey, where's Death Aspect?

_Life Aspect: Oh, he's still playing around with those Anti-good wards that he got from YamiPhoenixFire._

Did you tell him that we were writing a new chapter? He's going to be angry if he misses it.

_Life Aspect: Hmm… oh yeah, I told him, but he ignored me as usual._

Alright, then I guess we'll just start without him.

_Life Aspect: (Heh he… excellent… Now to take control of this plot…)_

What was that…?

_Life Aspect: Oh… nothing. Just doing the Disclaimer. We do not own Baten Kaitos, the characters, or the plot. We do own the unique elements to this storyline, however, so no stealing them._

And now, on to chapter 6. Enjoy…

* * *

_**The Past**_

In the moonlight that filtered in through the trees, a lone Ray-Moo flapped its wings lazily as it floated across the clearing in search of its next meal. The Shrine of Spirits had experienced a great deal of activity lately, and most of the good prey was still hiding away somewhere, but it knew that they had to come out eventually. Maybe if it was really lucky, a human child would wander into the mystic forest, and it could feast. Humans were amazingly good eating, but the older ones had a nasty habit of fighting back. Unsatisfied with what it saw, the Ray-Moo turned to fly back to its perch to wait a while longer.

There was a sudden disturbance in the air. The Ray-Moo turned quickly to see what was causing the movement, but couldn't tell. It flitted over to the spot where the disturbance seemed to be originating. Wind was swirling lightly around a point in midair. A more intelligent creature might have wondered why this was, but the Ray-Moo was merely annoyed that the thing causing the movement wasn't a meal. It flitted around the disturbance in anger for a moment. As suddenly as it had started, the wind stopped leaving the air perfectly still except for the flapping of the monster's wings. An explosion of silent light ripped through this stillness, and the Monster was caught by surprise. The force of the explosion sent it smashing into a nearby tree, breaking both of its wings and crushing its skull. The Ray-Moo's lifeless form fell to the ground in a heap and did not move.

The light began to swirl back in on itself, forming a sphere of radiance. Out of this glowing gateway stumbled a blond-haired girl. She would have fallen, but a blue haired boy stepped out after her and helped her regain her balance. The red-haired one wearing imperial clothing came last. All three looked disoriented and disheveled. The bright sphere of energy flickered once, twice, then swirled and collapsed back in onto itself. It spun down to a single point and vanished into the night.

"Well, that certainly was an experience," said Lyude, shaking his head to clear the fog from his vision. "Any idea where we are? Or, I should say, any idea when we are?"

Kalas finished helping Xelha stand on her own. "Well, Mizuti was kind of explaining it to us before the rest of you arrived. Apparently we should have arrived around the time of the initial disturbance that started this whole mess."

"Yeah, she said that, but how?" asked Lyude.

"Well," began Xelha, "Haru was our first connection to the fact that something had changed. Because he was the one controlling the flow of the time energies, we should be very near to the time that he was connected to. That's what I think Mizuti meant anyway…"

"_Yes… that's what she said… Ugh…_" Haru had not yet recovered from the task of transporting three people and himself through the time stream.

"But we're still not sure when that is," Said Kalas. "Unless being in this time brings back any of your lost memories, Haru…" He trailed off hopefully.

"_No… Sorry. I still feel like I have a connection to whatever is going on, but I don't know… I can't even tell why my memory is so spotty. I remember our adventures and helping you defeat Malpercio. But there are parts missing, like what happened afterwards. Also there is a separate set overlapping the first. Like two photos on the same piece of film. But I can't seem to make out the second clearly enough to know what it shows…_"

Everyone stood in silence for a moment, contemplating their next move. Finally Xelha spoke. "Well, it looks like we're still in Nekton, so why don't we head over to see Duke Calbren? I'm sure we can tell when we landed if he helps us."

"Yeah," said Kalas, "and I can check on this time's Melodia as well. Let's go!" He and Lyude turned to walk in the direction of the main road. Xelha followed a moment later, biting her lip hard and trying to think less angry thoughts.

They arrived at the mansion less than an hour later. The town of Balancoire was noticeably quiet when they entered, but none of the group took real notice. Lyude stayed near the entrance to the town as to avoid startling anyone with his military uniform. Kalas Knocked loudly on the front door, and a servant came to answer it. "Hello, may we please speak to the Duke?" asked Xelha politely. "He should know who we are."

The servant looked confused. "But miss," she said, "the Duke is in Mintaka. You were here when he left, weren't you? You went into the basement and closed that horrible gateway that had appeared there, if I remember correctly. Then you and the duke left in separate directions.

Xelha went pale. "T-thank you then… We'll go there. Goodbye…" She turned to leave.

"Wait," said Kalas, clearly oblivious to Xelha's discomfort, "Is Melodia here?"

The servant's confusion turned to surprise, then panic. "Do you know where she is? We have al been worried sick about her. She left for Alafard over two weeks ago, and we haven't heard from her since." Then the sevant turned to Xelha. "Wait a minute. Last time you were here, you said that you had some information on our Duke's daughter. You told Duke Calbren this news and he looked shocked and left soon afterwards. What's going on? Do you know something?"

"I…" Xelha began, but stopped and restarted again. "No, I don't know what's going on. We need to talk to the Duke. Goodbye" She hurriedly walked down the path, leaving Kalas to follow in confusion.

He finally caught up to her as she reached Lyude. "What was that all about?" he asked.

"Kalas…" She began, but had to stop. Tears were forming in the corners of her eyes. "We… you…" She stopped again to regain her composure. When she looked up again, her face still showed extreme duress, but the tears were gone. Instead her eyes were dull and cold. "If I just recently closed the rift in the basement of the Duke's manor, then I know exactly when we arrived. After doing that we went to Wazn to retrieve the ocean mirror. Then we…" Her voice cracked again, and she was unable to continue.

"The first time you went to Wazn…?" said Kalas. "But I don't remember that."

Haru continued for Xelha. "_That's because you weren't with us at that time. That was while I was bonded with Xelha._"

"No…" Said Kalas, finally realizing what was going on. "Then this is…" His thoughts drifted back to the nightmare he had right before the whole mess had started. Then I… This is all my fault?"

"We don't know anything for sure yet," Lyude reminded them. "Let's go to Mintaka and talk with the Duke and the others. Then we will know for sure exactly how far this story has progressed without us." Xelha nodded, and they left in silence.

Luckily, Lyude had the presence of mind to bring a large amount of money back with them. "Your taxes hard at work…" he muttered as he handed over a rather large sum to rent them a boat capable of carrying them out through the trail of souls to Mintaka. The trip took almost half of a day, but they finally got past the swirling tunnel of light and emerged into the skies.

But they were not the blue and clear skies that they remembered. Instead, the horizon was flanked by sickly green, and the air seemed almost thick and smoky. This was an effect that the group recalled all to well. They scanned the horizon, and Kalas was the first one to spot it. It was what seemed to be a massive floating palace near the horizon. It was huge; almost the size of one of the islands, and surrounding it was a shifting multicolor barrier. They all knew the name of this structure by heart, and they all said it aloud as one.

"Cor Hydrae."

* * *

_**The Present**_

"Cor Hydrae," said Gibari as he stared out at the massive fortress floating on the horizon. He, Savyna, and Mizuti had just emerged from the trail of souls to find the sky green and the air thick. "Well, I guess we should have seen this coming. It was next in the progression of things."

"So what are we going to do about it?" asked Savyna, who was standing next to him.

"Come on, do you really need me to answer that?" said Gibari.

Mizuti spun the wheel of their ship so that they were facing the castle of the evil god. "Us heroes, we have so much to do," she said before hitting the engine switch and launching them full speed at Cor Hydrae.

Savyna turned to the two of them. "Do you honestly intend to go into an enemy stronghold with no information, no plan, and no supplies?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I think you know the answer to that as well," replied Gibari.

"We go," said Mizuti simply. Savyna sighed heavily. "Would Savyna do anything differently?" asked Mizuti.

Savyna uncrossed her arms and thought about it for a moment. "Well, the barrier doesn't seem to have returned yet, so if we were going to invade the time would be now."

"Hah!" said Gibari. "Just admit it. You want to go and bust some heads, just like old times." She said nothing, and Gibari clapped Mizuti on the shoulder. "All right then, Cor Hydrae! Here we come!"

Savyna sighed again. "All right, we should ready our decks. We're in for one hell of a fight." She turned and walked down the hall towards her chamber. Only when she was around the corner did she allow herself to grin in anticipation of the coming battle.

* * *

_Life Aspect: well, that was certainly a short chapter._

Hey, it's a lot of writing, especially without Death Aspect here to help out. Besides, I'm already behind schedule and I want to give my readers their update. Writing this isn't as easy as I make it look sometimes.

_Life Aspect: Then why not let us write a few chapters. Take a week off and relax…_

Do I really look that stupid to you?

_Life Aspect: I figured it was worth a shot. Oh well, on to plan B…_

Plan B?

_Life Aspect: No! There is no plan. You heard nothing… umm… just forget it and ask for reviews…_

Alright, but I'm keeping my eye on you. Anyway, Please review this chapter and I will go start working on the next one. See you all soon…


	7. Troubled Paths

_Life Aspect: Woo… Pretty colors… Dizzy…_

What the heck? What happened to you?

_Life Aspect: Spin… Spin… Dizzy! Fall down now… He he he… _

Oh crap, Death Aspect figured out those anti-Life Aspect wards, didn't he? Oy! Death Aspect! Where the heck are you?

**Death Aspect: Woah, cool. It worked, sort of… It doesn't appear to be causing any pain, but this is amusing too.**

Figure out a way to fix him. Now!

**Death Aspect: Aww… but I just got him this way. Can't we just…?**

No. Fix him now before I have to hurt you. We need him for later chapters. And do a disclaimer before you leave.

**Death Aspect: (Grumble…) Fine, we don't own any of this stuff. We're stealing it. Mua ha ha ha! When we conquer the world, then we will own everything anyway. So there.**

_Life Aspect: Wheeeeee… The cow goes moo… Sleepy happy jumpy monkey… Enjoy!_

* * *

_**The Present.**_

"Here they come!" shouted Gibari as he faced down the onrushing hoard of monsters. They were massive winged creatures, each wielding an equally massive axe. They might have looked almost like archangels to someone who didn't see the almost palpable aura of evil that surrounded them. Mizuti, Savyna, and Gibari had seen these beings in action before. They were completely without remorse or hesitation, and would gladly gang up against a stronger opponent. They were Cor Hydrae's first line of defense, and they were not to be taken lightly.

"Right, well engage them on the main deck," said Savyna. "Mizuti, you stay here and keep the ship going straight ahead. We'll try to keep the battle away from the bridge."

She looked to Gibari. "You ready?"

"Born ready," he responded simply. And they were dashing out onto the deck.

"Stay here… Okay," said Mizuti, grinning behind her mask. She pulled out her deck and drew a hand of cards. "The Great Mizuti will stay here, but can also fight."

Gibari reached the deck at the same time as the first of Cor Hydrae's defenders. He placed himself directly in its path and readied a defensive Magnus. As he braced himself to receive the creature's opening attack, the being suddenly stopped charging. "What the…" The creature raised its axe and plunged the blade into the deck with all of its might, creating a rather sizable gash. Several others arrived and began to do the same.

"They aren't going after us!" shouted Savyna as she reached the deck as well. "They're attacking the ship itself! We have to stop them."

"Way ahead of you!" Gibari yelled back as he charged at the nearest monster. He raised his Power Blade and swung with all of his might. The desired effect was not achieved, however. Instead of being struck down, the creature merely suffered a small wound to its chest. Ignoring this fact, it raised its axe again and prepared to hit the ship once more. "Damn it, I forgot how tough these things were…" Gibari said as he prepared to swing again.

Before he had the chance, Savyna called out, "Get out of the way!" From fighting alongside her three years prior, Gibari had learned that when she said this, it was a very good idea to obey. He had once taken a Splash Spear that was meant for an opponent because he had been too stubborn to move, and since then he had taken Savyna's requests a lot less lightly. Using his wings, he launched himself backwards, away from the creature.

"Special Attack…" Savyna began, a Magnus in her hand glowing red hot. "Inferno Cannon!" The jet of molten air that burst forth from Savyna engulfed the guardian that Gibari had been attacking. When the red glow faded, Gibari could see that the being was little more than a cinder. Its legs were almost completely gone, and its wings were non-existent. The axe was melted and still glowed red hot. Yet, as he watched, the creature made one last feeble attempt to raise its weapon. This action drained the last of its strength, and it collapsed once more into a lifeless pile of ashes and charcoal.

The remaining monsters didn't even look up. They merely continued their assault on the ship's deck. "I think we need something a little bigger," said Gibari. They're going to reach the engine room at this rate."

"Do you have something in mind?" asked Savyna.

"That depends," he said. "Do you think this deck can support some more weight for a few seconds?"

"Yes, but not for too much longer if you don't hurry."

"Right then, wish me luck." Gibari charged forward again, lying into the nearest of Malpercio's minions. He hit it once, twice, three times before it looked up from what it was doing long enough to recognize him as an attacker. He landed a fourth and fifth blow in quick succession, then suddenly switched targets, attacking a different creature. He made sure that both of them were looking at him before pulling out his final Magnus. Savyna glanced at it and knew exactly why he had inquired about the ship's structural integrity. "Destructive Power, ULTIMATE GYSER!"

A gargantuan column of water erupted from the metal deck. Many of the attacking creatures were simply there one moment and gone the next. The force of the attack sent them flying through the air and over the side of the ship. Others not as close to the point of origin were caught in a secondary wave as the water crashed back down towards the ship's deck. Savyna braced herself, but most of the water was directed by Gibari's will towards the attackers. When it finally subsided, most of the offending creatures had been washed free of the ship's deck and those that remained were not moving. The ship creaked ominously.

"Gibari," Savyna said as she wrung out her hair.

"Yeah?"

"Don't do that again. I don't think the ship can take it." Savyna looked up towards the castle. A second wave of winged creatures was already speeding towards them. "Here we go again."

The reinforcements touched down on the deck moments later. However, instead of continuing their assault on the ship, each one was staring at the pair of fighters. They all raised their weapons into battle positions, and slowly surrounded the pair. "Well," commented Gibari, "it looks like we have their attention now."

* * *

Kalas was off of the boat before it even finished pulling into the dock. "Hey! Come on, let's go!" he called to the others. 

"Kalas, wait!" Xelha called after him as Lyude attempted to pay a startled dock keeper the fee for docking their boat. "You can't just run into the throne room like that. Wait for us…" Lyude shook his head, tossed a bagful of coins to the keeper, and dashed off after them.

Even with Xelha's constant pleas to slow down, Kalas reached the palace far ahead of the others. He raced through town, knocking over at least one person and getting rude comments from several. He literally burst through the front doors, catching two guards completely by surprise. One attempted to speak to him, but he rushed past too quickly. Moments later, the guards got a mumbled apology as Xelha and Lyude also ran past. Kalas Dashed into the throne room, and this time was greeted by multiple armored men blacking his path. Corellia, Calbren, and Ladekahn looked up startled from a map that was stretched out on a table in front of them. Their faces shared a look of concern for a moment until they saw Xelha dash up behind Kalas, completely out of breath. The wall of guards parted to let them past.

"It is a relief to see you again Kalas," said Queen Corellia as Lyude joined them. "I'm glad that you made it back alright. That was quite a quick trip, getting to Alfard and back so soon. Where are the others?"

"The others…" Kalas began, unsure of what to say.

"And what about Melodia?" Duke Calbren inquired.

"We…"

Xelha saved Kalas from their questions. "We will explain everything, but first you must tell us something very important. How long ago did we leave?"

The three rulers looked puzzled, but King Ladekahn answered, "Around 2 days ago, why?"

"Lets see…," said Lyude to Kalas and Xelha, "It took us just over a day to get there last time, and then another several hours to reach you…"

Xelha continued his line of thought. "Alright, so that would have us there about an hour ago… Plus the time it took us to get through the Imperial Fortress… We would be fighting you…" She looked up startled. Her eyes met Kalas's cold blue ones. There was something in those eyes that frightened her, but also made her as determined he was.

"Now," finished Kalas. "You would be fighting me right now."

"Excuse me," said Duke Calbren, "but what are you talking about?"

Ignoring him, Lyude continued his discussion with Kalas and Xelha. "So then if we arrived here now, it means that this is when this timeline split off from our own."

Kalas had a terrible sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Then if you are fighting me now…"

"Um… Excuse us," said Queen Corellia. They continued to ignore her.

"What if we had lost that fight?" Xelha asked the question that was on all four of their minds. "What if you never came back to us Kalas?"

"_It could change the entire outcome of the war with Malpercio,_" said Haru.

"If we want to stop this, we have to go," said Kalas. "Now" With that, the three of them turned their backs on the confused rulers and ran out before the guards could move to stop them. "Sorry!" yelled Kalas over his shoulder as they left. "We'll explain later!" and then they were down the stairs and gone.

Kalas was the first back to the ship again. The force of his leap carried him up over the side and landed him on the deck. Xelha followed close behind, and Lyude tossed a handful of coins to the even more surprised dock keeper as he grabbed the ladder on the side of the ship. Moments later, they were traveling at maximum possible speed towards Alfard.

* * *

"So, it looks like there's about fifty of them. That's 25 for each of us. Think you can handle it?" 

"Worry about yourself, Gibari."

His knuckles tightened on the handle of his paddle blade. "Do you want the right side or the left?"

"If we move, then they're going to attack."

"Well then, what do you suggest?"

Savyna's hands clenched into even tighter fists. "I don't know. We need an opening. Something to distract them, even if just for a second…"

As if in answer, one of the guardians of Cor Hydrae burst into flames. Gibari readied himself to receive an attack, but quickly realized that this pyrotechnic display was not the creature's doing. Another was surrounded by a green swirl of energy, and froze in time for a moment. In that moment, Gibari shouted "Let's go!" and attacked. The being recovered from the chronos assault just in time to see Gibari's paddle swinging at its face. The energy of a Rainbow Ash shattered its skull, and it dropped. As he lunged for another, Gibari glanced in the direction of the bridge. Through the glass, he saw Mizuti with one hand on the wheel and the other holding a glowing hand of cards.

Savyna also began her attack. She pounded ferociously on the face of one guardian before leaping off to avoid the attack of another. Summoning a quick shield from one of her Magnus, she blocked several more shots. She could feel the elemental energy of the axe seeping through the shield, however, and she had to cast it aside after only a few hits. She dodged another attack, but was finding very little room to move. A sudden strike from one creature left her off balance. She watched another raise its axe to strike at her while she was unable to defend herself, but suddenly it was consumed in a dark vortex. The force of the spell through the axe and its owner in separate directions, and Savyna made a mental note to thank Mizuti later.

Gibari was faring considerably better, for the moment. Being able to block with his paddle Magnus allowed him to work with considerably less space than Savyna. He had already taken down four of his foes, and several others had large wounds. Still, they were slowly pinning him down. He smashed one axe back only to be caught in the side by another. The Attacks he was blocking were still causing damage as well, a fact that became painfully obvious to him as a wave of frigid air and ice shards caught him off guard. The elemental damage of the attacks was slipping past his rapidly summoned shields. Gibari tried to push the onrushing creatures back with a series of rapid strikes. He saw the one that has snuck around behind him a moment too late, and the flat of the axe impacted hard with the side of his head. He tried to regain his balance, but the blow had been too hard. He partially parried a second strike, but the force of the impact knocked him to the deck.

A powerful hand grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him out of the way of a final, lethal attack. "Come on, you're better than this," said Savyna as she helped him regain his feet. Ordinarily, Gibari might have had a witty response to one of Savyna's insults, but this time he could tell that their situation really was dire. The guardians were slowly surrounding them again, and they each would need to restock their decks before they could continue. "What we need," Savyna said as her back pressed against Gibari's, "is a big finisher here."

"Well, I can't use mine again if we want to stay in the sky," responded Gibari. "Don't you have anything useful? Like that 'Deadly Heat Wachamajiggy' or something?"

"Scythe, and no. That would melt the ship. It was really only designed to be used in aggressive situations where you don't care about your surroundings."

"Great. What about…?" Gibari never got to finish his statement. The great Mizuti's voice came over the speaking tube.

"Please hold on now," Mizuti said simply. Gibari, for the second time that day, did what he was told without question. He immediately dived for the deck and grabbed with his fingers into one of the gashes that the first assault had left in the metal deck. There was a sudden rush of wind and a lurching feeling in his stomach. Gibari felt his hair standing straight up and could tell without looking that Mizuti had turned the ship upside-down. He saw the guardians take flight in a startled mass, and watched them slowly regroup. What he saw next was a comical sight, even from his reversed vantage point.

What seemed to be a massive wooden mask appeared above the now regrouping guardians. The mask stuck out its tongue for a brief second, and then began to spin. The creatures paid no attention to it, their single-minded fury only directed at the inhabitants of the now inverted vessel. Then it was too late. The wind energy of Mizuti's Alias Fall Magnus dived down on them with impressive force. Many of the enemies were simply smashed straight down by its weight. Others that managed to avoid the giant mask were still sucked down into the waiting taintclouds by the massive vortex of air. By the time the spell subsided, none of the guardians were still in the air. The ship righted itself.

"Lets not do that again either," said Savyna shakily as she let go of her handholds. Like Gibari, her knuckles were while from holding on so tightly. Then to Gibari, she said, "I didn't now that Mizuti was that good of a pilot.

Mizuti's voice came over the tube again. "Great Mizuti has been practicing. Training."

Gibari wasn't paying attention to either of them however. He was staring at Cor Hydrae. On one of the upper towers, there was movement. "More reinforcements?" asked Savyna, following his gaze.

"No," he responded. "Something different. Almost like…" The sound of gears grinding cut him off. As they looked, a large portion of the tower folded away to reveal a massive gun barrel pointing directly at the ship. There was an electric hum in the air, and the cannon began to glow. Energy gathered at the tip of the barrel.

"Well, that's new…"

* * *

Kalas looked out over the back railing. His eyes were focused, but his mind wandered back to the nightmare again. 

"_Kalas?_" Haru's unreal voice was full of concern. "_We can still stop this. Don't worry._"

"I know, it's just that… this could all be my fault. If I hadn't betrayed you all in the first place then our world wouldn't have been in so much danger. I hate to think that I've now put it in danger twice just because I wanted a stupid wing."

Haru was silent for a moment. "_So…_" he finally said, "_What do you intend to do about it now? What's done is done. This whole mess is being caused by someone trying to undo it. All you can try for now is a quick resolution and make things right again._"

"You're right. Thanks." they turned to walk inside, unaware that Xelha was standing in the shadows watching them.

"So," said Lyude as Kalas walked in, "We can see Alfard from here, and we'll be there in a few minutes. What's the plan?"

"We land this at the port, go to the Imperial Palace, get to Melodia, and kill anything that gets in our way."

Xelha walked in behind him. "Shouldn't we be a bit stealthier? Last time we had to sneak in carefully."

"Yeah," said Kalas, "But we're a lot stronger now than we were then. We can't afford to waste time sneaking around."

"Oh, so you'd rather burst in and let the entire continent know that we're coming?" Xelha was defiant. "Great plan there."

"_There's no need to be mean about it, Xelha. Let's figure this out…_"

Lyude didn't comment as the ship pulled into Alfard port. He didn't want to get between these three when they got like this. As they argued, he scanned the harbor looking for anything that might complicate their journey. The area was strangely deserted, no one walking the streets. Even though it was still early morning, surely there should be a guard or a dock master or someone. In fact, there was only one other ship docked here; the one that they had used to come here on their original rescue mission. Lyude's mind registered something as very wrong. As Xelha and Kalas continued to argue behind him, he did some quick calculations in his head. "This is bad…" he mumbled to himself. "We should have been back by now…" He looked up, and saw something that made his hopes sink and caused the blood to run cold in his veins.

"We can't just let them know that we are coming!" argued Xelha behind him.

"I…" Lyude began, snapping them out of their debate. "I think somehow they already know… Look!" He pointed in a panic. Kalas and Xelha followed his arm to the thing that he had seen earlier. Xelha gasped, and her knees buckled. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes. She could not believe what she was seeing. It took all of her mental effort to keep herself from going into shock. Kalas's hands squeezed into fists so tight that his fingernails cut into the palms of his hands. His eyes watered and became clouded with rage. He could feel Haru's infuriation mixing with his own until it boiled forth in a scream of absolute malice.

There, high atop one of the towers of the city was a lone figure. Her blonde hair was matted with blood, and dried trails of it ran down from her nose and the corner of her mouth. From the positioning of her legs, at least one was badly broken. She was covered in small lacerations, and her iridescent wings hung limply at her back. Stabbed clean through her abdomen, was Kalas's own weapon, covered in dried and still drying blood. Hanging there broken, the dead body of Xelha was clearly marked as an invitation by the words carved into the metal tower beneath it:

_**Welcome Kalas and friends. I hope you like my gift. I'll be seeing you very soon. All my love, - Melodia.**_

* * *

_Life Aspect: Wha… What happened?_

**Death Aspect: hey, I think I fixed him.**

Good. Hey Life Aspect, are you alright?

_Life Aspect: I think so. What's going on? The last thing I remember was going to sleep yesterday…_

**Death Aspect: No memory at all, huh? Good good… Well, I'm off to do some more… research… (Runs away quickly, grinning)**

Nice acting. Saying tat you didn't remember anything was a nice touch. So, how long are we gonna keep this up? He really thinks that his wards are working. But, seriously… sleepy happy jumpy monkey?

_Life Aspect: Yeah, it's funny. And it keeps me safe too. As long as he thinks that they work, he won't try to improve them._

Hmm… good thinking. Now you have to pretend to be afraid of him, though… That might affect our writing.

_Life Aspect: You seem to be doing pretty well. I got to say though, this chapter… Do you think you went a bit too far?_

Nah. I'm just getting started. Besides, that's for the reviewers to decide.

_Life Aspect: Alright then, please review and tell us what you think. Yell. Flame if you really hate it. Critique. Whatever. Just please review. See you all in the next chapter._

And please don't kill me for leaving you with two separate cliffhangers. If you kill me, you'll never know what happens. Ha ha! Later…


	8. Self Sacrifice

Life Aspect? Death Aspect? Hello? Where are you guys? I know it's been a while, but… Hello… ello… llo… o…?

…

Well, it looks like I have to do this chapter all on my own. Man, this sucks… I have to do the disclaimer too… Fine then, I can do this without their help. I do not own Baten Kaitos or any of the characters. I did come up with various aspects of this story's plotline on my own, but they are all based on the original storyline developed by Namco. All rights reserved or whatever and blah blah no copying blah… you get it, right? Right!

This chapter focuses on the folks who stayed behind. The next will be all about our time-travelers.

On to the (much delayed) insanity! Enjoy!

* * *

The Cor Hydrae cannon released a blast of light and energy that made the sky shake with a peal of thunder and boiled the air around it. The beam lanced towards the skyship with deadly accuracy. The spot where the ship once stood was engulfed in light so intense that it would have reduced anything in its path to vapor in seconds.

Except, there was nothing in the beam's path at all. At the last second, Mizuti's newfound piloting skills had pulled the small ship out of harm's way, although just barely. As the last of the energy faded into the taintclouds below, Mizuti, Savyna, and Gibari let out a collective sigh of relief. Mizuti smiled. "See, there be nothing to worry about. The Great Mizuti is invincible, remember?" Gibari, who was still unable to gain his breath fully, simply nodded. Savyna just stared at Mizuti without saying anything.

The giant cannon barrel was clouding the air around it with steam and smoke, bit it was not moving. "I guess they can't rapid-fire that thing," said Gibari when he finally caught his breath. "Which is fine by me, we barely survived one shot. I don't feel like dealing with any more."

"So what now?" asked Savyna, once again going into military mode. "They obviously are ready for us. Do we charge straight in there with Magnus ready and trash whatever we see, or do we try to form a plan here and risk them firing that cannon again?"

"Well," said Gibari, "ordinarily I would suggest the first plan and charge off without worrying too much about it, but this is Cor Hydrae after all. We were fighting for our lives the entire time we were in there three years ago, and we have half of the force now that we did then."

"But we can't stay here either," said Mizuti. "Big cannon could kill us no matter how strong we be. Standing still not a good plan."

"And retreat isn't an option," Said Savyna. "So our only course of action is to go straight in and hope for the best."

"Right, then let's go!" said Gibari. He turned to scan the skies for any more reinforcements that might be attempting to sneak up on them. Savyna was not sure, but she thought she heard him whistling to himself.

"I swear, he enjoys this far too much…" she said under her breath before turning back to help Mizuti with the controls. Suddenly, the ship shuddered violently and Savyna almost lost her footing. She put her hand against a wall for balance as another tremor rocked the vessel. "Mizuti! What's going on?" She shouted towards the wheel room.

"The Great Mizuti not be sure. Ship not responding like it is supposed to. Mizuti think the cannon may have messed up engine by coming too close."

"Can you fix it?" asked Savyna.

"Maybe," replied Mizuti, "possibly, could be. But I might need some time…"

"Uh, guys…" said Gibari shakily, "we really don't have any time." He was looking out the front view window with an expression devoid of hope. The Massive cannon had begun to move again, and he was looking down its barrel for the second time that day. A telltale hum filled the air. "Mizuti, Get us out of here!"

"I'm trying!" said Mizuti, who was looking more and more panicked, even with her mask on. "The controls not responding!"

The energy buildup deep within the cannon began to grow louder. "We need to move now, or abandon ship." Said Savyna.

"Abandon ship? How are we going to do that?" Gibari Asked. "Mizuti has no wings."

"We'll have to carry her!" replied Savyna. "Now let's go! We've got to get off before that thing fires!"

The electric hum abruptly stopped. "We're too late!" shouted Gibari as the massive cannon fired once again. The beam reached for the ship as if to grab it in a colossal hand. Savyna covered her face with her hands. Gibari stared into the heart of the blast, as if to defy it's presence.

There was a terrible sound, like a thousand nails being scraped across chalkboards. The ship lurched violently as metal shattered and melted away in the beam. Instruments in the control room shattered as air pressures flew out of whack. Several pieces of glass lodged themselves in Savyna's back, leaving bloody and jagged wounds. She screamed, but the sound was lost in the winds. The window in front of Gibari blew outwards, a slight change in pressure saving him from the thousands of shards of death. The beam subsided slowly, almost painfully.

The ship remained. Or, at least, part of it did. Much of then left side had been broken or melted away, but the blast had missed the engines and the craft remained in the air for the moment. Gibari blinked away the blindness caused by the bright light and looked around in amazement. He pinched his arm to make sure that he was still alive, and the tiny jolt of pain proved the miracle to be true. He was alive and well for the time being.

Savyna was alive too, although not well. She had shown real determination by keeping her footing despite the injuries covering her body. The exploding instruments had covered her arms and legs with tiny lacerations, and embedded several larger scraps of metal and glass in her back. She had managed to protect her eyes and face with her arms. Although none of her wounds were life-threatening, they still caused almost overwhelming pain. She closed her eyes, trying to bite back tears or a scream. When she opened them again, Gibari stood in front of her holding a Sacred Wine from one of his Magnus. Without speaking, she took it and gulped the whole thing down. Gibari returned the chalice to the Magnus as Savyna pulled several larger shards of metal out of her flesh. The wounds on her arms had already healed completely.

"Looks like they missed," Said Gibari, for lack of anything better to say.

"I guess they did," replied Savyna. "I thought that we were dead."

"Me too. I saw that beam. It looked like it was dead on to hit us."

"Where's Mizuti?" Savyna asked after another few seconds of silence.

"I don't know," said Gibari. "Mizuti! Great Mizuti! Hello?" Gibari's calls went unanswered. "We need to find her. That thing might be able to fire again at any moment."

The pair preformed a quick search of the control room and surrounding area. "She couldn't be out on the deck, could she?" asked Savyna. Gibari was already headed for the outer door. Savyna followed, but nearly ran into Gibari as she walked out. He was kneeling next to something on the deck. "No…" said Savyna with growing dread.

"Relax. She's just unconscious," said Gibari as he rolled Mizuti's body over so that it was facing up. He checked her for visible wounds, but found none. "It looks like she's just in shock."

"I don't blame her. That blast barely missed us," said Savyna with a sigh of relief. "If it had been as on-target as it looked…"

"It was on target." Said Gibari suddenly, picking something out of Mizuti's hand. "it didn't simply miss us."

"Then what…?" Gibari held up the Magnus he had taken from Mizuti. Clearly written across the top were the words _Wind Blow VI. _"No way!" said Savyna as she realized what this meant. "She couldn't have…"

"I think she did," said Gibari solemnly. "She must have used her magic to blow us most of the way out of the path of the beam at the last second. She cut it ridiculously close."

"No wonder she's in shock," said Savyna. She cast that with barely a moment's notice. That would tire anyone out."

"Still leaves us with a problem though." Gibari's voice was still grim. "We still need to get off of this wreck. There's no way it's going to fly with one of it's rudders gone." He indicated the missing side of the vessel. "It's amazing the thing is still afloat."

As if on cue, the ship shuddered. The remaining engine sputtered and the hum began to fade. At the same time, the massive cannon moved once more, positioning itself for a final strike.

"You had to go and say something, didn't you…" muttered Savyna under her breath. "We'll have to carry Mizuti between us! Let's go!" Savyna helped Gibari lift Mizuti from the deck and tucked the Wind Magnus into her own pocket. Under them, the ship shuddered once more and finally died. It began to slowly fall from the sky.

"Jump!" shouted Gibari as he leapt from the deck and spread his wings wide. They were not really meant for carrying more aloft than himself and his gear, but between he and Savyna, they should be able to carry Mizuti the rest of the way to the castle…

Mizuti's weight suddenly increased and Savyna cried out in pain. Looking over in surprise, Gibari saw that the glass shards that had still been in Savyna's back had now pierced her feathery wings. Savyna flapped once, twice, then began to fall leaving Gibari struggling to stay aloft with Mizuti. "Savyna!" Gibari called out as she tried to regain her lost altitude.

The damage to Savyna's wings proved too great, however, and she continued to fall in a lazy spiral. "Gibari, Get Mizuti to land!" she called up to Gibari as she fell. "I'll be fine! GO!" Savyna was suddenly blinded and deafened as the cannon's blast flew past above her, obliterating the remains of the ship. She tried desperately to stop her descent, but gravity held her locked in a death spiral.

All at once, Savyna's motion stopped. She heard a grunt of effort beside her, and felt a large hand lock around her wrist. Her eyesight cleared to reveal what she already knew was there. "Gibari!" she said through the pain, "I told you to leave me and save Mizuti!"

"Ha… Ha… Yeah… Right…," managed Gibari as he strained to regain the sky. One of his hands was locked around Savyna's wrist, and the other held Mizuti over his shoulder. His Paddle blade was firmly strapped to his back. He could feel the bones in his red dragon-like wings straining and popping. The effort that it took to simply stay aloft was almost unbearable. Still, he slowly rose as chunks of their ship rained down around them.

Savyna could see the extreme effort that it took to carry both herself and Mizuti. "Gibari, you aren't going to make it like this!" She yelled at him, but he ignored her and continued to slowly and painfully fly towards Cor Hydrae. "Gibari!" she yelled again, struggling to free her wrist. "Leave me and save Mizuti! Now!"

"Shut… up…!" said Gibari without looking down at her. His joints seemed like they could pop at any second. The flesh of his back threatened to tear away, leaving all three of them to plummet to their deaths. Still, Gibari's vision tunneled towards the entrance to the castle. He shut out Savyna's pleas and his own pain and just concentrated on flying. Only 200 more yards to go. 100 yards… 50… 10… one…

Gibari and his passengers crashed ungracefully onto a large stone balcony. Savyna heard something snap, but the lack of pain prevented it from being one of her own bones. She shakily stood and looked around. A large door into the palace stood in front of her, but thankfully it was unopened. Gibari was kneeling cradling his left arm. Blood trickled from his nose and the corners of his mouth. Mizuti still lay unconscious on the ground. Savyna walked over to Gibari, who struggled to stand. "You idiot!" she whispered harshly to him. "Are you trying to kill yourself?"

"S-shut… up…" was all he managed before he was cut off. Something was moving on the other side of the door. Gibari and Savyna froze. Something was talking. Slowly, one of the doors began to swing outwards. Gibari recovered almost as suddenly as he had frozen. Charging across the balcony, he slammed his good shoulder into the door. It slammed shut, and an inhuman cry of alarm could be heard from within. "Savyna, you and Mizuti hide!" whispered Gibari loudly. "I'll handle this." He grabbed his paddle blade from his back and shoved it through the door handles, wedging the door shut. More sounds could be heard from the other side. There was a loud bang, and the door shook. Gibari braced himself against the door. "Go! Now!"

"I'm not going to abandon you either!" said Savyna as she dragged Mizuti over and hid her behind one of the large grotesque statues at the edge of the balcony. As she turned around, however, her words were proven false. The door was struck from within by a blow powerful enough to snap the handle of Gibari's weapon in half. Gibari was knocked back several feet as the doors slammed open. One half of the paddle blade smashed into the statue next to Savyna, pinning her to it. The other half impacted with her chest, knocking all breath from her body. She stood gasping silently for air as Gibari struggled to stand. He needn't have bothered. A massive, dog-like creature bounded out of the open doors, landing on Gibari and putting him down for the count. It bared its fangs and prepared to rip his head from his body. "No… Gibari…!" said breathlessly as the killing blow came down.

A cry in a strange language came from within the fortress. Out came two of the winged creatures that they had fought earlier. One barked an order to the massive canine, who responded almost immediately, returning to the depths of the castle of evil. The other kicked Gibari so that he rolled over to face them. Savyna could barely see this from where she was stuck, and still couldn't speak. The two creatures whispered to one another, then seized Gibari's body by the legs and dragged him inside. Savyna struggled against the pole arm that held her fast against the rock. The massive doors slammed.

Savyna shoved once more against the statue, and the offending weapon finally came lose. It clattered to the ground next to Mizuti's body. Savyna stood for a moment, blinking into the setting sunlight. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes, and no matter how she tried to push them aside, they kept returning.

One friend was unconscious and in shock. Another whom Savyna cared about was badly injured and captured by enemy forces. As Lady Death, she would have approached this with careful planning and no emotion, but those days were long gone. Now, she stood crying in the coming twilight with bleeding wings.

* * *

(Phew…)

_Life Aspect: Is that the best you can do?_

Hey! There you guys are! I was wondering what happened to you…

**Death Aspect: We're not talking to you.**

What? Why not?

_Life Aspect: How could you ignore us for so long? You haven't written in two months, at least!_

Hey, I've been busy! C'mon guys… don't do this to me. I'm sorry…

(silence)

Fine then, be that way. I will ask for reviews on my own! (Ahem…) I know it has been a while, but please review this chapter. I should be getting back to a schedule of regular updates (and by regular, I mean sporadic, but nothing as long as this previous gap…) Tell me what you think. Or, yell at me for taking so long. Whatever, just please review. See you next chapter (and my aspects should be there too, if I can talk them into helping…)

Later…


	9. Blood and Battle Plans

C'mon guys, won't you at least help me with this chapter?

**Death Aspect: …**

Please… You know how hard this is without you.

_Life Aspect: …_

(sigh) Alright then. Looks like I'm on my own again. If you want a disclaimer, look at the last 8 chapters. They all have them. I see no reason to put one here as well.

As I said before, this chappy is all Kalas and friends hanging out in the past.

* * *

_**The Past**_

Although the airship was still forty or so feet from the dock, it only took one flap of Kalas's wings to carry him from ship to shore. He had barely touched down on solid land before leaping again, this time straight up towards the body suspended upon a tower above the grand city of the Imperial Capital. His feet contacted with the side of the tower, and he began running straight up the vertical brass and steel surface aided by his wings and his willpower. One more powerful leap and a single wingbeat, and he was there.

Kalas stood on the roof for a second, looking at the sight before him. He reached out cautiously, as if he were worried that the image before him might disappear if he got too close. In reality, his greatest fear was that the vision was not some trick of the light, but actually the body of Xelha. This fear was confirmed when the tips of his fingers brushed against her lips. Kalas withdrew his hand almost instantly, staring at the few flecks of dried blood that clung to his fingertip. Then he reached forward again, holding his palm a few inches from Xelha's face. There was no breath. No movement. Nothing. This Xelha was most assuredly dead.

Kalas said nothing as he carefully unwound Xelha's arms from the cross-shaped spire around which they had been tangled. He caught the body as it began to fall, and held it gently, cradling the head against his chest. With a lightness that belied the stress of carrying Xelha's weight, Kalas flew slowly to the ground. He laid the corpse gently onto the stone street. As he did so, Kalas reached for and drew out the weapon that was still lodged within Xelha's abdomen. This action produced as fresh flow of blood onto the ground around the body, but Kalas showed no signs that he even noticed or cared.

He held out the weapon, inspecting the blade. It was still sharp, and even slicked with wet and dried blood it gleamed in the dwindling evening light. The hilt was of an unusual design, and the grip had been molded by years of use to fit a very specific hand. His hand. Kalas drew his own weapon, holding one blade in each hand. He stared at them until his eyes became unfocused from the concentration. Or maybe it was tears. Kalas couldn't tell.

"_Kalas?_" Haru's mental 'voice' was tinged with sorrow, regret, and worry.

Kalas ignored his spirit, continuing to inspect the two weapons. Apart from a few battle scars and the blood that covered one, the swords were identical. Kalas could see the scratches that the battle against Geldoblame had caused. Both showed a small dent near the grip where he had deflected Giacomo's End Slasher during their first fight. His own also had several other markings from battles in the Labyrinth of Dhur and clashes with the Evil God himself. These were battles that were yet to come in this time. If they came at all.

There was movement from a doorway down the street. Something large and dark slowly shambled out of the lightless dwelling. A similar figure moved into view from an alley near where Kalas knelt. Several more appeared, shuffling out of various hiding spots near Kalas. These beings had once been Imperial soldiers under the command of Emperor Geldoblame. Now the emperor was dead, and those of his guard who had not fled became twisted by the dark power of Malpercio. Their bodies were an unnatural collage of scales and chitin, and their flesh had become glossy and black. Where they once had arms, Massive scythed talons now sprouted. Some had only two of these limbs, while others possessed four or even six. Legs had grown large and muscular to support the extra weight. The most horrific feature of these mutated beasts was their faces. They had become a gross mockery of what the soldier formerly looked like, with thin forked tongues or large sharp teeth. The eyes were no more than pools of darkness tinged with hunger and the desire to kill. These were Malpercio's first warriors. Unthinking, unfeeling brutes that could slaughter entire towns in minutes. They shambled through the streets and formed a ring around Kalas.

"_Kalas!_" Haru said again, this time more urgently.

"I see them…" he replied, sounding far away.

"_What are you going to do?_"

"We are going to fight."

"_I mean after that. What then?_"

Kalas placed the bloody sword down next to the body of his beloved. Slowly he stood from his kneeling position. No longer did tears fill his eyes. They had all dried away. Now there was only a dark fire. "I don't know. I really don't know." He turned to face the mass of demonic soldiers, his blade leveled in front of him. He drew a handful of Magnus just as the first enemy roared into the twilight and charged.

* * *

From far away, they watched the battle. Actually, battle was not an appropriate word for what they were seeing. It was a massacre. In the first five seconds, Kalas had dropped two of the monsters that he fought and wounded four others. He fought like a man possessed, destroying every beast that neared the body lying on the ground behind him. One of the observers smiled as Kalas decapitated another monster.

"He is quite good at this, you know," said the smiling figure, turning away from the viewing crystal to look at the other who watched. "It doesn't look like he has even broken a sweat yet. They might even reach us before too long."

"Of course," said the other, still watching the fight intently. "If they didn't make it here, we wouldn't be able to have any fun, now would we?"

The first watcher laughed. "No, I suppose not." She turned back to the image on the viewing crystal. "Looks like the others are still on the boat. Who came with him?"

"Xelha, naturally, and… Lyude."

"Lyude?" asked the first watcher with some surprise. "I figured it would be someone like Gibari. They always seemed to get along better…" They turned back to the battle. Kalas was still fighting aggressively, slaying monster after monster, but reinforcements kept coming.

"I think you angered him with your little gift," observed the second figure as Kalas shattered a Guard's skull with the blunt side of his weapon.

The second figure giggled and tried to look as innocent as possible. "Do you think it was too much? I mean, you know how I love to make a good first impression."

"Ha ha! No of course not. I would say that was just right." The second watcher stretched his wings and wrapped his arm around the other. "We should just enjoy the time until they finally arrive."

"Then the real fun begins." She laughed, and he joined her.

"I love you Melodia," he said as they turned back to watch Kalas finish off the Mutant Guards.

Melodia hugged him tightly. "And I love you, my Angel of Darkness…"

* * *

One of the Mutated soldiers got a shot at Kalas's back as he concentrated on finishing off another. He cursed aloud as a talon tore several feathers off of his natural wing. "This is taking forever. Where the hell are all of my finishers?" Kalas took a stab at the beast that had wounded him, and drew another card. It was a defensive Magnus and no good to him at the moment. He was about to cast it aside when the image swirled and changed. What had been a fiery breastplate became a crystal that seemed to be made of pure light, with feathers swirling around it. "Haru?"

"_I'm fine… Use it…_" came the strained reply as the spirit stretched himself between Kalas and the Magnus. "_Go!_"

Kalas wasted no time putting this gift from his guardian to use. "I am the Light, dispeller of darkness! Spirit Magic: **Shining Sephram!**" The area where Kalas stood darkened, as all light was drawn into a large crystal that was rapidly forming over Kalas's Head. The spike of radiance began to spin, and the creatures stopped assaulting Kalas for a moment to look up in wonder. In that moment, Kalas dived between two of the awed beasts and rolled to safety. Then the spinning point of light stopped moving. For an instant it hung in the air before driving itself into the earth. There was an explosion of light, and when Kalas looked back all he could see were a few feathers formed of wispy illumination. The bodies of the Mutated beasts were scattered about, and although they had no visible wounds Kalas knew that their internal organs had most likely been obliterated by the spell.

As he stood and dusted himself off, Xelha and Lyude descended from the ship. Xelha was about to speak, but Kalas cut her off. "Thanks for the help there guys. I sure appreciate it." The words were spat out with more venom than he had intended. Xelha said nothing.

"_Kalas! Don't say things like that,_" said Haru angrily. "_We need to trust each other here._"

"No…" Xelha said quietly. "No, he's right. I should have helped, but…" Xelha sniffled. "But I…" She stopped, and looked as if she were about to burst into tears again.

"Um…" Lyude spoke up, "Is that really…?"

"I haven't taken a close look yet, but I think so," replied Kalas slowly. "I need to check more thoroughly. Uh, Lyude, would you mind…"

"I'll go look around for any more monsters," said Lyude. Xelha smiled at him slightly as he wandered off. He turned a corner and looked into an open house. The air was still, and hung heavy with the scent of blood. Exploring a little more, Lyude found several large dark stains on the furniture and walls. Whoever had died here did not have a peaceful passing. Lyude continued to wander down the street, peeking into several other houses. All were empty, and many had the same dark feel as the first that he had entered.

Suddenly a cry came from a nearby alley. Lyude stood from where he was inspecting a discarded imperial helm and rushed around the corner. A pair of small children was huddled against a corner. Hovering over them was an insect monster, not nearly as dangerous as the mutated guards that Kalas had faced earlier but still very dangerous, particularly to children. Lyude instinctively loaded one of his sonic Magnus into the chamber of his weapon and fired a warning shot under the creature. The shot achieved Lyude's goal of scaring off the beast, and it quickly flew off into the sky. Lyude rushed over to check on the children.

"Sir Lyude!" one of them called out as he approached. "You made it back! Please…" As Lyude got closer, he could see tears on the child's face. "Please help Amelia! She was trying to protect me from the monster, and it stung her."

Lyude knelt down next to the child to examine his friend. "Hmm… It looks like she was poisoned…" The little boy's face went white at this, but Lyude comforted him as he reached for his Magnus. "Don't worry; I have some antidote with me. She should be just fine if she gets this quickly." Lyude pulled out a Chestnut Truffle Magnus and extracted its contents. He opened the mouth of the unconscious girl and forced her to swallow the small anti-toxin candy. The girl didn't awake, but her breathing almost immediately evened and her muscles became less tense. Lyude sighed in relief. "What is your name?" he asked the boy.

The child looked insulted. "I toldja before, it's Aaron. Did you forget already?"

"I'm sorry, before when?" asked Lyude, puzzled.

"Before when you came through with all those weird lookin people. You said you were going up to the Imperial Fortress to do something, and that it would stop all the monsters around here." The boy stopped to catch his breath. "Don'tcha remember?"

Lyude stood slowly. "Aaron, how long ago was this?"

"I dunno…" said Aaron, stretching. "Sometime yesterday. I didn't have a clock."

"It's all right." Said Lyude, still lost in calculations. "Look's like your friend is waking up." The little girl had begun to stir. She opened her eyes and stared up at Lyude. "Hello there." He said as gently as possible. "How are you feeling?"

"I… I hurt…" said the girl timidly.

"Can you stand up?" asked Aaron. The girl struggled to push herself off of the ground. She slowly got to her feet. "Good. We have a safe place that we've been hiding with some other people to escape the monsters" Aaron said to Lyude. "But I thought you said you were gonna take care of them all. Didn't you make it to the Fortress?"

"No… Not yet," answered Lyude slowly. "I need to go there now. Here…" Lyude handed the boy a Magnus with a silhouette of a fleeing man depicted on it. "I need to go, and you need to get back to your safe house. If you run into any more monsters, hold his up and yell 'ESCAPE' as loudly as you can, understand?"

"What if it doesn't work?" asked Amelia timidly.

"Then you can use this," said Lyude, removing a small crystal that had been attached to his belt. It was a part of an alarm system that he had worked out during his first month as Prime Minister. If one crystal was activated, all of the others in a certain radius would show an image of what was happening around the first. The crystals could also chain off of each other, so that if one was activated, all of them would be in a large web. It had proved immensely useful while Monsters still existed, but had seen less and less use since their decline. Lyude's was a special model, however. It would connect to the others regardless of distance. Lyude always wore two of them so that he would always know what was happening if a crisis should arise. "Just squeeze this and say the word 'help,' and I will hear you, ok?"

"T-thank you," said the little girl. She and Aaron turned and quickly ran across the street and disappeared into another alleyway. Lyude watched them go before turning to head back to Kalas and Xelha. They stood next to the ship, speaking in low voices.

"Find anything?" Kalas asked as Lyude approached.

"Not much," replied Lyude. "I figured out that we are about 24 hours behind ourselves, but we pretty well knew that already. What about you? Was that really…"

"Yes…" said Xelha hollowly. "She was me. Every scar, every birthmark. All of it was the same."

Kalas answered Lyude's next question before it was even asked. "We put her in the ship. We'll need to give her a proper burial later."

"She needs to go to the Ice lands…" said Xelha.

"So…" began Lyude, "what now?" No one spoke. "Do we try to figure out what happened, exactly?" Lyude asked. "Can we afford to wait that long? We're on unfamiliar ground here. We really have no idea what would have happened if we had failed…"

"I do," said Kalas, suddenly looking up. "Melodia and I were starting preparations to raise Cor Hydrae, but they became unnecessary once I gave up Malpercio's power. Had I kept it, Melodia and I would have needed another day or so to raise the Dark Castle."

Lyude looked concerned. "So then we have no time. We'll need to act now to stop them from fleeing to Cor Hydrae. If they make it there, we'll have a hard time reaching them."

"Let's go then!" These words were spoken with determination, but they did not come from Lyude or Kalas. They both looked surprised at Xelha. She was no longer shaking, and she stared off into the distance in the direction of the Imperial Fortress with fire in her eyes.

"Xelha, are you sure you…" Kalas began.

"I already died once, Kalas. I'm not afraid. I'm stronger than I was then. We can do this!"

Kalas stood stunned. Lyude almost smiled. "Well then, what are we waiting for?"

"Haru, are you with us?" asked Kalas, glancing upward as if he expected to see his spirit standing next to him.

"_Always!_" came the reply. Xelha nodded. Kalas Nodded back. Lyude tightened his grip on his weapon. Without another word, they started towards the palace.

* * *

**Death Aspect: Not enough action.**

_Life Aspect: And not enough plot._

Well, then help me! Good lord, you expect me to do good work without my creative aspects helping me…

**Death Aspect: Fine fine, I'll help with the next chapter.**

_Life Aspect: Humph! Well, I can't leave you two to screw everything up on your own. I'm in too._

Woo hoo! I got the team back together. I'm so happy that I'll even ask for reviews on my own this time. (Ahem) Please review my little tale. Suggestions to make it better are always appreciated. General comments are also nice. Flames are not nice, but they are your choice if you want to leave some. But please review. It will make me most happy.

**Death Aspect: Gah! Enough sap already! Just say "Hey you! Review! Now!"**

_Life Aspect: The way he did it was rather nice, actually. Could have been a bit more polite, but…_

(Sigh) It's nice to have things back to normal…


	10. What Heroes Do

_Life Aspect: You know it's been forever since you updated, right?_

Yeah, I know…

**Death Aspect: And you've disappointed all your fans…**

Shut up.

_Life Aspect: You could win them all back you know…_

**Death Aspect: All you have to do is write a new chapter…**

_Life Aspect: C'mon, you know you want to…_

**Death Aspect: Do it for us! Do it for the fans! Or we'll keep bothering you…**

AARGH! FINE! I'LL WRITE A NEW CHAPTER ALREADY! HAPPY! SEE, I'M WRITING! HAPPY NOW?

_Life Aspect: Actually, yes. Quite._

**Death Aspect: Well, I'd be happier if we owned Baten Kaitos and the characters from it, but we don't Namco does. For now…**

* * *

_**The Past**_

"So that's it then," said Kalas as he looked up at the steel and brass structure towering above him. "It looks darker than I remember."

Kalas, Xelha, and Lyude stood in front of the main entrance to the former imperial capitol building. In their time, it had been completely overhauled by Lyude so that it looked inviting, rather than foreboding. Metal had been polished, windows added, and grotesque statues removed in favor of more appealing décor. In this time, however, these changes had yet to take place, and the tarnished metal and leering gargoyles made it clear that they were not looking at a rural teahouse.

The most dramatic change in their time, however, was the lack of imperial walkers patrolling the grounds. There had been no need for them ever since the monsters stopped attacking. This change, like many others, had been reversed. In fact, there had been several walkers guarding the front doors. Emphasis on 'had been.'

"Yeah, I guess so…" said Xelha. Her voice had a far-away quality to it, like she wasn't really paying attention, despite the fact that they had just finished a fierce battle.

"So, what now?" asked Lyude as he kicked aside an armor plate from a destroyed walker. "Do we just walk in the front doors? I mean, they have to know we're coming. As if the, err…, Invitation wasn't enough, we just smashed lots of things on their front door."

"What choice do we have?" asked Xelha, still sounding flat and hollow. "We've come this far…"

"If we don't do this now, then there was no pint in having Mizuti send us back in the first place." Kalas's voice was strong, and his eyes fixed on the doors in front of them. "Xelha is right, we don't have a choice. Right, Haru?"

The spirit was silent for a moment. "_Given what we know… What we've seen… I don't think we have any other options. We have to end this before it starts, for everyone's sake._"

Kalas stood from where he was crouching and walked up to the large steel doors that barred entrance to the metallic mansion. Xelha and Lyude followed, wordlessly. "Here goes nothing…" Kalas muttered. He raised one gloved hand to the door and pushed. There was a creak of metal, and the barrier slowly began to swing open. No light could be seen through the crack, and cool air poured out. Kalas shoved once more, and the door swung fully open. The entrance hall was deserted and dark, barely visible in the small amount of moonlight that trickled in through the door. Cobwebs covered the ceiling. Cool air billowed out into the night. There was no movement, no sound. Kalas turned back to Xelha and Lyude. "Are you sure about this?"

Lyude was about to answer, but he was cut off by a sound from deep within the mansion. There was a great echoing noise that sounded like a waterfall or windstorm tearing its way through the halls of the great building. Kalas glanced over his shoulder. "What the hell is…?" He never finished. A sudden gale shot forth from the open doors, catching the party by surprise. Xelha and Lyude were each sent flying in opposite directions, crashing to the earth well outside of the entrance. Kalas was knocked off of his feet as well, but instead of being thrown to the ground he was lifted into the air. He tried to cry out in surprise but the swirling winds ripped the breath from his lungs. For a moment, he hung suspended in midair. Then the vortex reversed itself, flinging him deep within the Mansion.

Xelha was on her feet in an instant and Lyude just beyond that. They exchanged a surprised glance, then they both dashed towards the open door. Racing against the retreating winds. Twenty feet to the door. Ten. One. Still, as fast as they ran, the wind was faster. The last of the cold air sucked itself back into the building, and the door slammed shut behind it. Xelha skidded to a stop. Lyude did not, slamming his shoulder into the closed door. The metal barrier didn't budge. Lyude placed his palms against the door and shoved as hard as he could, but to no effect. Xelha moved to help him, but even their combined strength caused no change. They were well and truly locked out.

"Umm… so, what do we do now?"

* * *

_**The Present**_

"What do we do now?" Savyna asked herself quietly. She had long since stopped crying, finding herself unable after a while. The depression was still there, weighing heavily on her, but the tears would no longer come. She had gathered the broken pieces of Gibari's paddle blade, but was unable to make any repairs on the shattered handle. Without any way of fixing the weapon, she had eventually just stored the pieces in a bank Magnus. Luckily, no more guard patrols had appeared to examine the small balcony. After a while, Savyna had settled into a calm pace around the outcropping. Although she appeared outwardly calm, her eyes betrayed the conflict inside of her.

Voices in Savyna's head fought for her attention. One screamed about the fact that she was a coward for not doing anything. Another countered that there was nothing she could do. A few argued over weather or not she should care. One suggested that Lady Death would never have shed a tear for a fallen comrade, and another noted that he had fallen to protect her, and that she should feel honored. A quiet voice volunteered that maybe she felt so bad because she had never told Gibari how she really felt about him, but it was shouted down by a voice that suggested she feel nothing at all. As the turmoil and drama played itself out in her mind, Savyna simply continued pacing. She repeated to herself in a flat tone, "What do we do now?"

Although the question was not intended to have an answer, one was provided anyway. "We do what heroes must do."

The tumult of voices dies down in the sudden start that shot through Savyna's mind. Turning, she saw that Mizuti was awake. Savyna nodded in acknowledgement of her companion's statement. "And what is that exactly?"

"Be heroes, of course."

"But what does it mean to be a hero?" asked Savyna again, her voice still flat.

"We be the good guys!" said Mizuti sleepily. "We do what we must do. We fight if we must. We beat the bad guys. Nobody else can do it. Nobody else is heroes like us. We fight more. Sometimes we die fighting." Mizuti considered for a moment. "But we are not dead. Us heroes still have much to do!"

"You still haven't really said anything useful," said Savyna irritably. She returned to pacing. Maybe it was the moonlight through the shield of Cor Hydrae, but the expression of Mizuti's mask looked almost hurt to Savyna.

After a few moments of silence, Mizuti spoke again. "Where is Gibari?"

Savyna spun and regarded the diminutive sorceress for a moment. She opened her mouth to speak, to spit out a harsh word or bitter statement, but stopped. She realized that Mizuti had not meant the question to hurt her. Rather, the spell caster had missed the events of their landing on Cor Hydrae altogether. Mizuti merely wished to know what had happened to their companion. Still, the question had started all of the voices in Savyna's head arguing again. A minute passed, then two. Mizuti merely floated looking at Savyna. Finally, the taller woman managed to voice a quiet answer. "I… I don't know…"

Mizuti said nothing. She merely continued looking across the moonlit balcony at Savyna.

Savyna took a deep breath and attempted to remain calm while relating the story to Mizuti. "You saved the ship for a moment, but the blast still killed the engines. We were falling, so we had to carry you, but then I fell. Gibari tried to carry us both. I told him to stop, to let me go and save you, but…" Savyna's voice became soft. "That idiot. He could have made it fine. Why did he have to hurt himself like that…?"

Mizuti said nothing.

Savyna continued. "We made it here, but we made a lot of noise, and we heard some guards coming. I tried to hide you, but when I turned around…" Savyna trailed off again. She had been reliving the events in her mind for hours now, trying to find some other solution. Her recounting of the scenario brought the sting of the memories forth anew. "He tried to fight, but he was too exhausted, and they broke his weapon, and they took him and I…" Savyna became soft once more. "I was useless."

Mizuti still said nothing. She merely looked at her companion across the balcony.

"I could have done something. I shouldn't have let him carry me." Savyna was more talking to herself than to Mizuti at this point. "I could have stopped… I was just too weak. I should have been able to fly… with minor injuries like that… I was just weak…" Reliving the feelings of helplessness and despair became too much for Savyna, and she slumped to her knees. Struggling not to cry again, Savyna became aware of Mizuti floating in front of her. She did not raise her eyes to look at her companion. "God, why am I so useless. I'm pathetic!" Savyna's words were becoming sharper as she indulged in bitterness and self loathing. "I couldn't even do anything to save the man I…"

The palm that connected with Savyna's face was completely unexpected. It completely interrupted Savyna's thought and silenced the voices. The impact echoed across the balcony and resounded off of the steel towers of Cor Hydrae. Before the echo of the smack had died, Savyna was on her feet holding Mizuti by the collar. Savyna stared into the earth child's eyes.

It took Savyna a moment to register that thought. She was staring into Mizuti's real eyes. The wooden mask lay on the stone a few feet from them. Mizuti stared back at Savyna with a spark of determination that Savyna had rarely seen in even the most zealous of soldiers. There was more in those eyes that Savyna would have guessed possible. Beyond the fierce determination there was a speck of pity. Deeper still was sorrow for the unknown plight of Gibari. And beyond that there was something else… something hidden deeper than the others yet stronger than all of them. Something that Savyna couldn't quite name just yet.

They stared in silence for a minute longer before Mizuti finally spoke. "Do not blame yourself. This is not your fault." Her normally cheerful and airy voice was uncharacteristically serious.

"What do you know about it?" spat Savyna back. "You weren't even awake."

"Maybe Mizuti knows nothing. Maybe Mizuti knows much."

"Right. And maybe I was just a pathetic, washed up ex-hero who couldn't do anything." Savyna's tears came from equal parts anger, self loathing, and sorrow.

"Were you capable of helping him?" asked Mizuti simply.

"No! I was worthless. I couldn't…"

Mizuti cut Savyna off with another question. "Would you have helped if you could have?"

"Of course I would have! What kind of question is that?"

Mizuti continued, ignoring Savyna's rage. "If he were falling, would you have tried to save him?"

All at once, Savyna's anger and self hatred lessened. She tore her gaze away from Mizuti's eyes and looked up at the moon for a moment. Then she closed her own eyes. "Yes," she finally said, barely a whisper.

Some of the usual cheerfulness returned to Mizuti's voice. "Then you not be pathetic. You not be useless." Savyna opened her eyes to see Mizuti smiling. "You be a hero."

"Maybe," said Savyna after a pause. "Maybe I am." Another pause. "Mizuti?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you." Savyna looked up at the sky again. I needed that.

"Good," said Mizuti, all of the cheer flooding back into her voice. They stood still a moment longer before Mizuti spoke up again. "Um… Savyna?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you maybe put the Great Mizuti down?"

"Oh, sorry," said Savyna sheepishly. She lowered the smaller hero to the floor. "The question remains though, what do we do?"

"We find Gibari." Said Mizuti matter-of-factly as she retrieved her mask.

"I have no idea where they took him."

"Me neither" confessed Mizuti with a shrug. "But we will find him."

Savyna sighed. In her military days, she would never have been able to accept this. It was a partial plan, and they were going into it with almost no information. Entering enemy territory with no battle plan, no escape route, and no contingency was foolish at best and suicidal at worst. Furthermore, they had no strategy of what to do one they found Gibari and no contingency for if they didn't. Even if they did complete this objective and somehow find and defeat their unknown opponent, they had no transport. There was literally no way out. Even by suicide mission standards this was crazy.

"Alright, let's go."

"How are we going in?" asked Mizuti. "Should we try to be sneaky? Stealthy? Quiet as mice? Or…?"

Savyna looked down at Mizuti. Mizuti back up at Savyna. Finally, Savyna recognized the light that she had seen earlier in her companion's eyes. It was hope. Childish? Maybe. Desperate? Certainly. But it was hope nonetheless.

They both smiled. Mizuti pulled on her ceremonial mask. Savyna drew a handful of Magnus. "Let's go with or," she said with a determined grin.

* * *

_**The Past**_

"We're going to try to force our way in?" asked Lyude in disbelief. "Weren't you the one arguing for sneaking earlier?"

"That was before Kalas disappeared," replied Xelha. And we won't really be forcing our way in. "At least not in the front entryway."

"Then what are you planning?" asked Lyude again. "All the windows we've tested have been locked and barred, and the side entrance is sealed as well. I'd say it's a fair bet that all of the entrances to this place are shut tight." He sighed. "Do you expect us to just go in through the wall?"

"Actually, yes," said Xelha flatly.

Lyude blinked. He hadn't been expecting that. Xelha was not one to joke around, particularly in a situation like this. On top of that, she actually sounded serious. But how could she be. Even in their time, the imperial fortress was just that: a fortress. The walls were thick steel, stone, and brass with numerous layers of support. He doubted that even his stronger Magnus would penetrate very far.

If Xelha noticed his confusion, she ignored it completely. "Follow me." She led Lyude around to the rear of the Palace. Looking up, she said, "I think this is it. Wait here." Materializing her iridescent wings, Xelha flew straight up the side of the building. Lyude watched as she disappeared over the edge of the roof. A minute later she reappeared. Floating down to him, she said, "Yep, I was right."

"Can you explain to me what is going on then?" asked Lyude, still confused.

"Ah, right. Sorry," said Xelha. "When I was being held here, the witches broke me out by blowing a hole in the wall. They repaired it, but not well. We should be able to blow it open if we both hit it together."

"Oh," said Lyude. "How am I getting up there then? I'm not as adept at flying as you are…" Lyude trailed off. After generations of using artificial winglets instead of real wings, Lyude's family had pseudoevolved small, stunted wings. In reality they could barely support his weight, and he couldn't do more than glide without extreme effort.

"Don't worry, I've got it covered." With that Xelha grabbed Lyude's hands and leapt skyward. Lyude felt a rush of air and realized that his feet no longer touched the ground.

"Xelha, what are you…" Lyude gasped as they ascended. "I'm not sure this is such a good idea."

"Relax, Lyude," replied Xelha without looking down at him. "I can support us both"

"That's not quite what I meant," said Lyude softly. His face became paler than usual as the ground receded from him. "It's just…"

"Lyude!" Xelha looked down at him with a mixture of surprise and amusement. "Don't tell me the great Prime Minister is afraid of heights!"

"No! I just…" Lyude looked embarrassed. "I just don't like them is all."

Then, as suddenly as it had started, the trip was over. Lyude stood on a wide ledge near the roof of the Capitol Building. Xelha released his hands and set down next to him. "This is the place," she said.

Lyude looked for a fissure or a crack of some type, but the fortress wall and roof looked completely intact. "Um… where?"

"I'm not sure exactly where the hole was," Said Xelha as she intently studied the architecture.

"Then how are we supposed to know where to hit?"

"Just get ready." Lyude had no idea what Xelha was up to, but she seemed to know what she was doing. He followed orders and loaded a handful of Magnus into the firing chamber of is weapon. Xelha also drew a handful of Magnus. "You'll need to be fast. Ready?" Lyude nodded.

"Light Flare!" Xelha yelled as she activated her first spell. Crystallized radiance splashed against the side of the building. Within the flash of brilliant light, Lyude could almost make out something on the side of the building. It was a crack or maybe just a seam where the new construction met the old. Before he could act on it, however, it was gone. As his vision recovered from the flash, Xelha readied two more spells. "Alright Lyude, this is it. You'll only have a few seconds."

"Right. I'm ready." Lyude leveled the barrel of his gun and squinted against the imminent glare.

"Light Flare!" Again the spell bathed the wall in luminescence, momentarily dazzling Lyude. However, this time another spell followed. "Chronos Blow!" The green time energy of Xelha's Chronos spell shot forward and enveloped the previous energy. In the small area directly surrounding the two spells, time took a short break. The light from the flare froze in place, and in that split second Lyude could see every crack and weak spot. "Now!" Xelha shouted, but Lyude was already firing. Guided by the light, His shots found the points where the metal and stone were weakest. Sonic shots joined the bizarre lightshow, and for a second nothing could be seen. Then the spells ended as time returned to its rightful throne. The Light and Chronos energy faded and died away.

The wall stood perfectly intact.

"But… I don't understand." Xelha looked at the wall in shock. "That should have been more than enough to get us through…"

"We could try again," Volunteered Lyude. "It might work if we do it a second time."

"Dammit!" Xhella shouted, slamming her fists against the wall. Except her fist didn't so much hit the wall as pass through it. Around her arm, the stone crumbled into powder. A large circle of wall crumbled away into dust, which collapsed to the ground and hung in the air like a cloud.

Lyude stepped past the startled Xelha and peered through the billowing soot. "Then again, that might have done the trick after all," he said with a cough. Xelha merely blinked and nodded. Lyude stared down the passageway. It was dark, and aside from a few pieces of wall still breaking away, silent as a tomb. "Quiet…" he remarked.

"Too quiet," Xelha agreed. "That wasn't a subtle entrance. There should be guard drones or soldier mutants or… something."

They both listened for a moment, but heard nothing but the breeze outside,

"Where to now?" asked Lyude after a moment.

"Basement," said Xelha simply. The pair walked cautiously down the hallway, glancing behind them as they went. The further they got from their entrance, the darker the road became. Doors flanked them on either side, but they dared not open any. After what seemed like an eternity, they reached the elevators.

"Now, if I remember, we needed a key of some sort…"thought Xelha aloud. "But where could we find…" She trailed off into her thoughts.

"Do we even know if these still…" Lyude was cut off as the door slid open noisily, the sound echoing down the empty hallway. "…work?" he finished meekly. They stepped in, and the doors shut behind them. Without command, the elevator began to move downward.

"Alright, Lyude, What do you remember about the last time we did this?" asked Xelha as they descended. "We'll need as much information as possible to win this fight again, especially without Kalas."

"To be honest, not much." Lyude replied. "This stage of our adventure wasn't the most pleasant, and the battle happened so fast… To tell you the truth I kind of suppressed those memories. It wasn't something I really wanted to think about…"

There was a bell from somewhere. The elevator stopped. The door slid open. Lyude's words caught in his throat. Xelha gasped. They both stared in confusion and shock.

Beyond the elevator door, the world as they knew it was gone. In its place there was a massive vortex of swirling energies and colors. It spiraled around a dark hole in the universe that seemed at the same time far away and within arm's reach. Lightning raced silently across the portal and disappeared among the colors. Tongues of flame leapt up and died down without warning. Light and darkness merged and separated at random. Almost tangible chaos filled the air.

Lyude found his voice first. "I do think I would have remembered this though…"

* * *

There, I wrote a new chapter. Are you satisfied now?

_Life Aspect: Well… you see… we want another one._

**Death Aspect: And you better make it sooner this time. Also, put in more action.**

Is there no pleasing you guys?

_Life Aspect: Don't blame us! You're the ones who left it off with more cliffhangers. And we still don't know what happened to Kalas or Gibari._

But I…

**Death Aspect: And we're overdue for another fight scene.**

(Sigh) Fine. I'll think about it. But only if I get reviews… So please review!

_Life Aspect: (That is, If you didn't alienate all of your reviewers.)_


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